Abstract:
A system and method of determining the copy protection features of a program, and notifying a potential user of the program of these features, is provided. The copy protection features of the program first are analyzed. On the basis of this analysis, a message such as “this program cannot be recorded with IEEE1394, optical digital audio” is displayed to the user. By displaying such a message, the user can easily recognize that copy protection is applied to the program and that, for example, the program can be recorded (picture-recorded) in an analog style but cannot be digitally recorded. Accordingly, the user is easily made aware of the copy protection features of the program before using or purchasing the program.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims priority from Japanese Application No. P2000-256253 filed on Aug. 25, 2000, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an information processing device and method, and a recording medium, and particularly to an information processing device and method and a recording medium which are suitably applied to a device for providing users with copy-protected data. 
     Recently, digital broadcasts for distributing video data and audio data as digital data have become popular. A reception device for receiving digital broadcasts is equipped with plural output terminals so that it can connect to various devices. For example, it is equipped with a digital terminal for outputting received digital data to another device, a terminal to which an IEEE1394 cable is connected, a terminal to which an optical cable is connected, etc., and also it is equipped with an analog terminal for outputting received data to an analog-only supporting device. 
     Three types of digital data are distributed, such as video data and audio data for television receivers, audio data for radio receivers and programs for personal computers or game machines. 
     Even if the digital data distributed by the digital broadcast are temporarily stored in a recording medium and copied into another recording medium many times, the image quality and the sound quality of the digital data do not deteriorate, and thus plural copies can be created. Such a situation is unfavorable from the viewpoint of copyrights, and thus distributed digital data are subjected to a method of preventing such illegal copies (copy protect). 
     As described above, there are three types of digital data (contents) to be distributed, and a reception device for receiving digital data is equipped with plural terminals. The copy protect operation is varied in accordance with the types of these contents and the outputting terminals. 
       FIGS. 1 to 3  include tables showing the copy protect in accordance with the three content types. 
       FIG. 1  shows a table on the copy protect of digital data for television receivers,  FIG. 2  shows a table on the copy protect of digital data for devices for receiving digital audio services such as radio receivers, and  FIG. 3  shows a table on the copy protect of digital data for devices for receiving data services of programs, etc., such as personal computers. 
     As shown in the tables of  FIGS. 1 to 3 , the specification on the copy protect is given so as to meet the type of content and the output destination. Of course, the user may become frustrated even when the user is directly supplied the information on the copy protect. However, when no information on the copy protect is supplied, the user may nevertheless be unable to record pictures because the copy protect is applied thereto although the user wants to record the pictures. There may occur a situation, therefore, in which the user cannot watch/listen to the pictures although the user paid to watch/listen to them. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention has an object to collect information on copy protect and easily supply information on the copy protect to users. 
     An information processing device according to the present invention is characterized by comprising: judging means for judging whether restriction on recording is imposed on a program which a user desires to watch and listen to; analyzing means for analyzing the restriction if it is judged by the judging means that the restriction on recording is imposed on the program; and display control means for controlling a display on a screen to make the user recognize a processing result of the analyzing means. 
     An information processing method according to the present invention is characterized by comprising: a judging step for judging whether restriction on recording is imposed on a program which a user desires to watch and listen to; an analyzing step for analyzing the restriction if it is judged in the processing of the judging step that the restriction on recording is imposed on the program; and a display control step for controlling a display on a screen to make the user recognize an analysis processing result of the analyzing step. 
     A program of a recording medium according to the present invention is characterized by including: a judging step for judging whether restriction on recording is imposed on a program which a user desires to watch and listen to; an analyzing step for analyzing the restriction if it is judged in the processing of the judging step that the restriction on recording is imposed on the program; and a display control step for controlling a display on a screen to make the user recognize an analysis processing result of the analyzing step. 
     In the information processing device, the information processing method and the recording medium according to the present invention, when it is judged that restriction on recording is imposed on the program which the user wants to watch/listen to, the restriction is analyzed, and in a case where the analysis result indicates that analog recording is released by paying an additional fee, a case where the analysis result indicates that analog recording is allowed, but digital recording is not allowed, or a case where neither analog recording nor digital recording is allowed, a display on a screen to make the user recognize the analysis result is controlled in accordance with the respective cases. Accordingly, the information on the restriction on the recording can be easily supplied to the user. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram showing the copy protect protocol for digital TV service; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram showing the copy protect protocol for digital audio service; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram showing the copy protect protocol for digital data service; 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram showing an embodiment of a receiver to which the present invention is applied; 
         FIG. 5  is a flowchart showing the operation of the receiver of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a continuation of the flowchart of  FIG. 5 ; 
         FIG. 7  is a further continuation of the flowchart of 
         FIG. 8  is a diagram showing a display example displayed on a television receiver; 
         FIG. 9  is a diagram showing a display example displayed on the television receiver; 
         FIG. 10  is a diagram showing a display example displayed on the television receiver; 
         FIG. 11  is a diagram showing a display example displayed on the television receiver; 
         FIG. 12  is a diagram showing a display example displayed on the television receiver; 
         FIG. 13  is a diagram showing a display example displayed on the television receiver; 
         FIG. 14  is a diagram showing a display example displayed on the television receiver; 
         FIG. 15  is a diagram showing a display example displayed on the television receiver; 
         FIG. 16  is a diagram showing a display example displayed on the television receiver; 
         FIG. 17  is a diagram showing a display example displayed on the television receiver; 
         FIG. 18  is a diagram showing a display example displayed on the television receiver; and 
         FIG. 19  is a diagram showing a recording medium. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Preferred embodiments according to the present invention will be described hereunder with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 4  is a diagram showing the construction of an embodiment of a receiver to which the present invention is applied. A receiver  10  is STB (Set Top Box), IRD (Integrated Receiver Decoder) or the like. Digital data received from an antenna  30  are input to a tuner  11  of the receiver  10 . The tuner  11  extracts data on a program indicated by a user and outputs the data to a descrambler  12 . 
     When input data are scrambled and when the scramble is allowed to be descrambled (for example, a regular subscription is taken out, and thus a descramble key is kept), the descrambler  12  descrambles the scramble and outputs the data to a stream processor  13 . The stream processor  13  outputs video data of the input data to a video encoder  14 , and also outputs audio data of the input data to an audio decoder  15 . When the video data are encoded data, the stream processor  13  subjects the input video data to the decode processing corresponding to the encode system, further generates OSD (On Screen Display) data if occasion demands, superposes the OSD data on the decoded video data and then outputs the data thus obtained. 
     When the video encoder  14  outputs input video data to a television receiver  50 , the video encoder  14  subjects the input video data to encode processing meeting the television receiver  50 , for example, the encode processing based on the NTSC (National Television System Committee) system and then outputs the encoded data to the television receiver  50 . The video data processed by the stream processor  13  are also output to a component  51  treating digital data. 
     The audio decoder  15  subjects the input audio data to the decode processing corresponding to the encode system of the audio data. The audio data which have been subjected to the decode processing by the audio decoder  15  are output to an interface  16 . The interface  16  is connected to IEEE1394 cable  52 , for example, and outputs the audio data from the audio decoder  15  to a device connected to the IEEE1394 cable  52 . 
     The audio data output from the audio decoder  15  are also output to other devices through an optical cable  53 . Further, the audio data output from the audio decoder  15  are converted to analog data by a D/A (Digital/Analog) converter  17 , and output to a speaker  54 . 
     The tuner  11  extracts the data of a program indicated by the user. The user tunes a desired program by using a remote controller  32  or switch  33 , and outputs an instruction. The switch  33  is provided on the side surface of the receiver  10 , and it is designed to output substantially the same instruction as the remote controller  32 . The remote controller  32  receives/transmits data from/to the receiver  10  by infrared rays, for example. 
     The data corresponding to an instruction which the user transmits by using the remote controller  32  are received by a photodetector  18  of the receiver  10 . The data received by the photodetector  18  or the data corresponding to the instruction based on the switch  33  are output to a display controller  19 . The display controller  19  outputs the data from the photodetector  18 , or the data from the switch  33 , to a controller  20  if occasion demands, and also controls the display portion  21  according to the input data. 
     The display portion  21  is provided on the side surface of the receiver  10 , and it makes a display to make the user know that the processing corresponding to the user&#39;s instruction is executed or makes a display for information to be supplied to the user. 
     When a subscription for viewing a pay program is taken out, data supplied from a partner with which the subscription is taken out are stored in an IC card  31 . This data is a descrambling key for descrambling the scramble or the like. The IC card  31  is mounted in a card I/F (Interface)  22  so that the recorded data are read out. The data thus read out are output to the controller  20 . 
     On the basis of the input data, the controller  20  outputs an indication of a program to be extracted to the tuner  11 , and also supplies the descrambling key to the descrambler  12 . 
     The operation of the receiver  10  when the user tunes a program will be described with reference to the flowcharts of  FIGS. 5 to 7 . In step S 1 , the tuning by user is started. The user can select a desired program (channel) by the remote controller  32  or the switch  33 . In step S 2 , it is judged whether the program selected by the user can be watched/listened to. 
     When it is judged in step S 2  that the program can be watched/listened to, the processing goes to step S 3  to judge whether the IC card  31  can be accessed or not. If it is judged in step S 2  that the program cannot be watched/listened to or if it is judged in step S 3  that the IC card  31  cannot be accessed, the processing goes to step S 4  in which a message corresponding to each situation is displayed on the television receiver  50 . 
     If it is judged in step S 2  that the program selected by the user cannot be watched/listened to, there would be considered such a case that the user does not take out subscription of the program (channel). Accordingly, when the processing goes from step S 2  to S 4 , a message like “You cannot watch/listen to this program on the basis of the subscription condition” or the like is displayed. 
     If it is judged in step S 3  that the IC card  31  cannot be accessed, there may be considered such a case that the IC card  31  is not set in the card I/F  22  or a different IC card  31  is set. If it is judged that the IC card  31  is not set in the card I/F  22 , a message like “Please insert card” or the like is displayed in step S 4 . If it is judged that a different IC card  31  is set in the card I/F  22 , a message like “Access to card is not established” or the like is displayed in step S 4 . 
     When such a message as described above is displayed, the user may open the lid of the card I/F  22  in order to set the IC card  31 . When the lid of the card I/F  22  is opened, the message displayed on the screen of the television receiver  50  is switched to a message like “Please close the lid” or the like. When the display of the message in step S 4  is finished, the processing returns to step S 1  to repeat the processing of the step  1  and the subsequent steps for a new tuning operation. 
     On the other hand, if it is judged in step S 3  that the IC card  31  can be accessed, the processing goes to step S 5  to judge whether a selected program has a restriction on the age for watching or listening to the program. If it is judged that the program has an age restriction, the display is switched to a frame for input of a code number in step S 6 , and the program is set to a code-number input standby state. 
     If a code number is accurately input in step S 6 , the processing goes to step S 7 . If in step S 6  the code number is not accurately input, the processing does not go to the step S 7 , and no subsequent processing is carried out. 
     On the other hand, if it is judged in step S 5  that no age restriction is imposed, the processing of step S 6  is skipped, and the processing goes to step S 7 . It is judged in step S 7  whether the selected program is a program to be purchased or not. A program for which it is judged unnecessary to purchase is a charge-free broadcast program or a program for which it is judged that a subscription for the program was taken out in advance. 
     If it is judged in step S 7  that the program selected by the user is a program which need not be purchased, in other words, the program can be watched/listened to, the tuning processing is finished and the screen of the television receiver  50  is switched to display the program selected. On the other hand, if it is judged in step S 7  that the program selected by the user is a program which must be purchased, the processing goes to step S 8  ( FIG. 6 ). 
     It is judged in step S 8  whether the time for purchasing the program selected by the user has expired. For example, if the broadcast time for the program selected by the user has terminated, it is judged that the purchase time has passed. If it is judged in step S 8  that the purchase time for the program has passed, the processing goes to step S 9 . 
     In step S 9 , for example, a message to make the user recognize that the purchase is impossible as shown in  FIG. 8  is displayed on the screen of the television receiver  50 . When such a message is displayed for a predetermined time, or by a predetermined user&#39;s operation, the screen is switched to a channel at which the user watched/listened to before the start of the tuning processing. 
     On the other hand, if it is judged in step S 8  that the purchase time has not passed, the processing goes to step S 10  in which information on the program selected by the user, for example, a program title, a start time, an end time, a charge amount, or the content of the program is displayed on the screen of the television receiver  50 . In addition to the above display, it is judged in step S 11  whether the program selected by the user has a digital copy control descriptor or not. An example of the digital copy control descriptor is shown below. 
     digital_copy_control_descriptor ( ) { 
     descriptor_tag 8 uimsbf 
     descriptor_length 8 uimsbf 
     digital_recording_control_data 2 bslbf 
     maximum_bit_rate_flag 1 bslbf 
     component_control_flag 1 bslbf 
     copy_control_type 2 bslbf
         if(copy_control_type==0∥copy_control_type==11)){
           APS_control_data 2 bslbf   
           }else{   reserved_future_use 2 bslbf   }   if(maximum_bit_rate_flag==1) {
           maximum_bit_rate 8 uimsbf   
           }   if(component_control_flag==1){
           component_control_length 8 uimsbf   for (j=0; j&lt;N; J++){   component_tag 8 uimsbf   digital_recording_control_data 2 bslbf   maximum_bitrate_flag 1 bslbf   reserved_future_use 1 bslbf   
               

     copy_control_type 2 bslbf
         if(copy_control_type==01∥copy_control_type==11){   APS_control_data 2 bslbf
           }else{   reserved_future_use 2 bslbf   
           }   if(maximum_bitrate_flag==1){
           maximum_bitrate 8 uimsbf   }   
            }   }       

     } 
     The processing of the step S 12  and the subsequent steps is carried out according to the content described in such a descriptor. It is judged in step S 12  whether the copy control type is equal to 01 or not. If the copy control type is equal to 01, some restriction exists on copying the program as is apparent from  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 3 . If it is judged in step S 12  that the copy control type is not equal to 01, the processing goes to step S 13 . 
     It is judged in step S 13  whether a service type is television, in other words, whether video data and audio data are supplied. In  FIGS. 1 to 3 , when a digital TV service shown in  FIG. 1  is provided as a content type, it corresponds to the judgment that the service type is the television in step S 13 . When the processing goes to step S 13 , this is the case where the copy control type is judged to be equal to 11, 10 or 00. 
     As is apparent from  FIG. 1 , when the copy control type is equal to 11, 10 or 00 for data to be supplied to the television receiver, output impossibility is set for all the data. On the other hand, as is apparent from  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , in a case where the content type is a digital audio service (a service to be supplied to a radio or the like) or a data service (a service to be supplied to a personal computer or the like), restriction is imposed on the copy when the copy control type is equal to 11, and the output is impossible when the copy control type is equal to 10, 00, that is, this case is different from the case where the data are supplied to the television receiver. 
     Therefore, it is judged in step S 13  whether the service type is the television or not, and it is judged in step S 14  whether the copy control type is equal to 11. If it is judged in step S 13  that the service type is the television, or it is judged in step S 14  that the copy control type is not equal to 11, the processing goes to step S 15 . In step S 15 , it is judged whether the receiver  10  is installed in the television receiver  50  (that is, the built-in type). 
     Here, in  FIGS. 1 to 3 , the output impossibility shows that it is impossible to output the data received by the receiver  10  to another device which is externally connected to the receiver  10  through a cable or the like. Accordingly, in the case of the built-in type, the data received can be processed in the device in which the receiver  10  is installed. 
     Further, if it is judged in step S 13  that the service type is not television and it is judged in step S 14  that the control type is not equal to 11, the processing goes to step S 15  to judge whether television receiver  50  is of the type in which the receiver  10  is installed. The above processing procedure is carried out because only sounds can be supplied from the television receiver  50  to a user when the service type is not television, for example when the service type is radio. 
     If it is judged in step S 15  that the receiver  10  is not a built-in receiver, in other words, if it is judged that the receiver  10  and the television receiver  50  are connected to each other with an external terminal through a cable or the like, the processing goes to step S 16  in which a message to make the user recognize that the program is a program which the user cannot watch/listen to as shown in  FIG. 9  is displayed on the screen of the television receiver  50 . 
     When an “acknowledge” button is operated on the screen as shown in  FIG. 9 , the screen is switched to a normal display frame (for example, a display frame before tuning). 
     If it is judged in step S 12  that the copy control type is equal to 01, or it is judged in step S 14  that the control type is equal to 11, the processing goes to step S 17 . The case where the control type is equal to 01 and the case where the control type is equal to 11 show that some restriction is imposed on copying the program. 
     It is judged in step S 17  whether CGMS (digital recording control data) is equal to 00. As is apparent from  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 3 , four flags of 00, 10, 01 and 11 are used for the digital recording control data (CGMS) for designating all the various control types. When CGMS is equal to 00, it shows that copying is allowed. 
     If it is judged in step S 17  that CGMS is not equal to 00, the processing goes to step S 18  to judge if CGMS is equal to 10. If CGMS is equal to 10, it shows that only one copy is allowed. If it is judged in step S 18  that CGMS is not equal to 10, the processing goes to step S 19  to judge whether APS (Analog Protection System) is equal to 00. 
     If it is judged in step S 19  that APS is not equal to 00, the processing goes to step S 20 . If it is judged that APS is equal to 00, the processing goes to step S 21 . In step S 20 , a message to make the user recognize that recording is not allowed irrespective of analog or digital recording as shown in  FIG. 10  is displayed on the screen. The processing also goes to step S 20  when it is judged in step S 15  that the receiver is the television receiver  50  in which the receiver  10  is installed. 
     In step S 21 , a display frame as shown in  FIG. 11  is displayed on the television receiver  50 . When such a display frame is displayed, it shows that copying is allowed if it is analog. When the processing of step S 20  or step S 21  is finished, the processing goes to step S 22 , and in step S 22  it is judged whether a “cancel” button in the display frame shown in  FIG. 10  or  FIG. 11  is operated. If it is judged in step S 22  that the “cancel” button is operated, the tuning processing is finished. 
     If it is judged in step S 22  that the “cancel” button is not operated, in other words, if a “only watching/listening” button is operated on the display frame shown in  FIG. 10  displayed in step S 20 , or an “acknowledge” button is operated on the display frame shown as shown in  FIG. 11  displayed in the step S 21 , the processing goes to step S 26  ( FIG. 7 ). 
     On the other hand, if it is judged in step S 18  that CGMS is equal to 10, the processing goes to step S 23  to judge whether an additional fee is needed. If it is judged that CGMS is equal to 10, as is apparent from  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 3 , copying is allowed. It is judged in step S 23  whether an additional fee is needed for copying (recording), particularly whether an additional fee is needed to analog copy. If it is judged in step S 23  that no additional fee is needed, the processing goes to step S 26  ( FIG. 7 ). The processing also goes to step S 26  if it is judged in step S 17  that CGMS is equal to 00 (when it is judged that copying is free). 
     On the other hand, if it is judged in step S 23  that an additional fee is needed, the processing goes to step S 24  to display to the user that an additional fee is needed for recording, as shown in  FIG. 12  (in the example of  FIG. 12 , a yen mark (¥) is displayed on a “recording” button). As shown in  FIG. 12 , the additional fee for recording is displayed. 
     On the display frame as shown in  FIG. 12 , it is judged in step S 25  whether the user operates the “cancel” button. If it is judged in step S 25  that the “cancel” button is operated, the processing of the tuning is finished. If it is judged in step S 25  that the “cancel” button is not operated, in other words, if it is judged that the “only watching/listening” button or the “recording” button is operated, the processing goes to step S 26 . 
     It is judged in step S 26  whether there is any pay ES (Elementary Stream). If it is judged in step S 26  that there is a pay ES, the processing goes to step S 27  to display a selection frame as shown in  FIG. 13  on the television receiver  50 . In the display example shown in  FIG. 13 , it is apparent that four kinds of pictures and voices are distributed for a program A. For example, a standard screen size, and a wide vision size are provided as the picture types, and Japanese, English, etc. are provided as the voice types. 
     A yen mark showing that an additional fee is needed is displayed for the picture  2  and the voice  3  in the four kinds of pictures and voices. A selected ES is represented by a black dot and a non-selected ES is represented by an open circle. 
     A “purchase” button and a “purchase cancel” button are provided in the lower portion of the screen. When selected ESs need additional fees, the total amount of the additional fees is displayed between these buttons. The user selects a desired ES using such a display frame, and operates the “purchase” or “purchase cancel” buttons. 
     It is judged in step S 28  whether the “purchase cancel” button is operated or not. If it is judged that the “purchase cancel” button is operated, the tuning processing is finished. If it is judged that the “purchase cancel” button is not operated, in other words, if it is judged that the “purchase” button is operated, the processing goes to step S 29  and an enter display frame as shown in  FIG. 14  is displayed. The enter display frame is a display frame to make the user finally acknowledge whether the selected program should be actually purchased on the basis of the selected content. 
     It is judged in step S 30  from the display frame shown in  FIG. 14  whether the user operates the “cancel” button or not. If it is judged that the “cancel” button is operated, the tuning processing is finished. On the other hand, if it is judged in step S 30  that the “cancel” button is not operated, in the other words, if it is judged that the “purchase” button is operated, the processing goes to step S 31  to judge whether the purchase time has passed or not. 
     It is also judged in step S 8  ( FIG. 6 ) whether the purchase time has passed. However, since there may be considered such a case that the purchase time has passed during execution of the processing of the step S 8  and the subsequent steps, the processing of the step S 31  is provided. If it is judged in step S 31  that the purchase time of a program which the user decides to purchase has passed, the processing returns to step S 9  ( FIG. 6 ), and such a display frame as shown in  FIG. 8  is displayed, and the tuning processing is finished. 
     On the other hand, if it is judged in step S 31  that the program which the user decides to purchase is within the purchase time, the processing goes to step S 32  to judge whether descrambling can be performed. If it is judged in step S 32  that descrambling cannot be performed, for example, because of some restriction, a display to make the user recognize this fact is provided in step S 33 . In step S 33 , such a display frame as shown in  FIG. 15  or  FIG. 16  is displayed on the television receiver  50 . 
     In the display example shown in  FIG. 15 , the program which the user decides to purchase is a program having a restriction to a watching/listening district, and it is a display frame when the user does not live in the district in which watching/listening is permitted. The display example of  FIG. 16  is a display frame displayed when the watching/listening (purchasing) is not allowed under a subscription condition such as where the program which the user decides to purchase belongs to a channel to which the user does not subscribe, the program is a program for which the user does not subscribe, or the like. When such a display frame is displayed, the tuning processing is finished. 
     On the other hand, if it is judged in step S 32  that the program which the user decides to purchase can be descrambled, the processing goes to step S 34  to judge whether the program exceeds the upper limit of the payment based on a card. The card means a credit card with which the user made a contract to pay a fee in advance when the user watches/listens to pay broadcast or an IC card  31  ( FIG. 4 ) in which an amount of money is written in advance, for example. It is judged in step S 34  whether the program exceeds the upper limit of the payment of the card, and if it is judged that the program exceeds the upper limit of the payment, the processing goes to step S 35 . 
     In step S 35 , a message is displayed on the television receiver  50  to the user that the program which he or she wishes to purchase cannot be purchased because the program&#39;s cost exceeds the upper limit of the user&#39;s payment card as shown in  FIG. 17 , and the tuning processing is finished. On the other hand, if it is judged in step S 34  that the program does not exceed the upper limit of the payment card, the processing goes to step S 36 , and a preview of the purchased program is displayed for only a predetermined time (for example, 3 seconds) as shown in  FIG. 18 . Further, a message indicating that the procedure for the purchase has been completed is also displayed. 
     The program desired by the user is selected as described above. As described above, the copy protect is determined in accordance with the service type and the device which is the output destination of the received data. Therefore, according to the above processing, the user can easily purchase a desired program without suffering cumbersome complicated stipulations on the copy protect, and also the user does not suffer the disadvantage of being unable to make a recording because of the application of copy-protect and thus be able to only watch/listen to a program after the user purchases the program. 
     In other words, with respect to the copy protect, the processing on the copy protect can be finished at the user side by carrying out only one operation on one displayed frame of the four display frames of  FIG. 9  to  FIG. 12 , so that the purchase of programs can be easily carried out. 
     A series of processing steps as described above can be implemented using hardware or software. When the series of processing steps is implemented using software, the program constituting the software is installed from a recording medium into a special-purpose computer or a general purpose computer which can perform various functions by installing various programs therein. 
     As shown in  FIG. 19 , this recording medium can be constructed not only as a package medium comprising a magnetic disc  121  (containing a floppy disk), an optical disc  122  (containing CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory)), DVD (Digital Versatile Disk)), a magnetooptical disc  123  (containing MD (Mini-Disk)), a semiconductor memory  124  or the like that has the program recorded therein and is distributed to supply the program to users separately from a computer, but also as a hard disc containing ROM  102  or a storage portion  108  that has the program recorded therein and is supplied to users under the state that it is installed in a computer in advance. 
     In this specification, the step describing the program to be supplied through the medium contains not only the processing that is carried out in a sequential series according to the described order, but also the processing that is not carried out in this order, but in parallel to, or independent of this processing. 
     In this specification, the system represents the overall device constructed by plural devices. 
     Although the invention herein has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and applications of the present invention. It is therefore to be understood that numerous modifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that other arrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.