Patent Publication Number: US-2002002503-A1

Title: Business method by internet connection information registration service, internet connection setting method, internet connection information registration method, and computer-readable recording medium which records application program

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] The present invention relates to a business method by an Internet connection information registration service, Internet connection setting method, Internet connection information registration method, and computer-readable recording medium which records an application program, which are suitable to implement setting for Internet connection using a portable recording medium.  
       [0002] In recent years, not only a personal computer (to be referred to as a PC hereinafter) but also many electronic devices, including a mobile telephone represented by a portable telephone, game apparatus, and television apparatus (to be referred to as a TV apparatus hereinafter), have a communication function, so these devices can be connected to the Internet to transmit/receive e-mail, browse a homepage, and do online shopping.  
       [0003] To connect an electronic device to the Internet, the user must select a desired provider (Internet connection agency), make an agreement with the provider, and acquire pieces of information (to be referred to as Internet connection information hereinafter) such as a user ID, user password, mail account, mail password, DNS (Domain Name System), and access point. The user then performs predetermined operation of setting the acquired Internet connection information to the electronic device. With the above procedure, the electronic device can be connected to the Internet.  
       [0004] However, the user-side setting procedure for connecting the electronic device to the Internet is not always easy for a user who has no experience on a PC or the like. Some providers distribute a free recording medium such as a CD-ROM that stores guidance software for the Internet connection information acquisition and setting operations. However, even with such a CD-ROM, the user must still do necessary setting operations in a correct order.  
       [0005] A certain kind of portable telephone can be connected to the Internet without any special user operation. However, for a portable telephone of this type, the provider (Internet connection agency) is fixed. Hence, some users must separately agree with a provider for Internet connection from, e.g., a PC and a provider for Internet connection from a portable telephone and separately pay basic charges.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and has as its object to provide a business method by an Internet connection information registration service, which allows automatic setting for Internet connection using a portable recording medium.  
       [0007] It is another object of the present invention to provide an Internet connection setting method, Internet connection information registration method, and a computer-readable recording medium which records an application program, which can implement automatic setting for Internet connection using a portable recording medium.  
       [0008] According to the present invention, there is provided an Internet connection setting method using a portable recording medium, characterized by comprising the steps of making a provider agreement for a user by exchanging information with the terminal of an Internet provider selected by the user through a communication line at a write terminal in a store, which is capable of connecting the portable recording medium, receiving information necessary for Internet connection from the provider terminal, generating Internet connection information for Internet connection on the basis of the information and registering the Internet connection information on the portable recording medium, when the portable recording medium having the Internet connection information registered thereon is connected to an electronic device in which an application program (Internet connection setting application program) capable of automatically loading the Internet connection information is registered in advance, automatically activating the application program to load the Internet connection information from the portable recording medium and execute connection setting for Internet connection in the electronic device on the basis of the loaded Internet connection information.  
       [0009] In the Internet connection setting method with the above steps, not only the provider agreement with the Internet provider selected by the user can be made for the user at the write terminal in the store but also the Internet connection information for Internet connection through the provider can be registered on a portable recording medium represented by a memory card, floppy disk, or mini disk (MD). Hence, the user can cause the application program to automatically execute setting necessary for Internet connection only by connecting the medium to an electronic device such as a personal computer, portable telephone, or electronic camera (digital camera). In addition, since the medium is portable, automatic Internet connection setting can be performed in every electronic device by preparing only one medium.  
       [0010] To make Internet connection setting possible independently of the type of electronic device, the data structure of Internet connection information is uniformed to a predetermined data format independently of the type of electronic device. Furthermore, dialup setting is applied as Internet connection setting.  
       [0011] To protect the Internet information registered on the portable recording medium from illicit use by a third party, the user is caused to input an arbitrary password to the write terminal, the input password is encrypted in accordance with a predetermined algorithm, registering the encrypted password in a predetermined area of the portable recording medium, in Internet connection setting in the electronic device, the user is caused to input a password, the authenticity of the user is determined by comparing/collating the input password with the registered password on the predetermined area after decrypting the input password or encrypting the registered password by a predetermined algorithm, and Internet connection setting is executed on the basis of the determination result.  
       [0012] The information transferred from the write terminal to the provider selected by the user in exchanging the information comprises at least one of a method of paying a charge to the provider and a candidate of a mail account requested by the user.  
       [0013] For the electronic device on the user (client) side, the present invention related to the Internet connection setting method using a portable recording medium can be regarded as an invention related to an Internet connection setting method of an electronic device, or an invention related to a computer-readable recording medium which records an Internet connection setting application program (for causing the electronic device to execute procedures applied to the above method). For the write terminal in the store, the present invention can be regarded as an invention related to an Internet connection information registration method at the write terminal for the Internet connection service, or an invention related to a computer-readable recording medium which records an Internet connection information registration application program (for causing the write terminal to execute procedures applied to the above method).  
       [0014] When the Internet connection information registration service for a portable recording medium (presented by the user or bought by the user at the store with the write terminal installed) is executed by the write terminal, the Internet provider selected by the user is expected to benefit. For this reason, the present invention can also be regarded as an invention related to a business method by an Internet connection information registration service in which the store with the write terminal installed obtains a predetermined compensation from the provider. This can also incorporate a business mechanism wherein the developer of the Internet connection information registration service also obtains a predetermined compensation from the provider selected by the user.  
       [0015] To accurately calculate the compensation on the provider side, the write terminal is caused to notify an agreement count apparatus of the Internet connection information registration service developer of completion of registration of the Internet connection information on the portable recording medium whereby the agreement count apparatus counts the number of subscribers to each provider in units of stores, and the count result is periodically sent from the agreement count apparatus to a corresponding provider.  
       [0016] The present invention related to the Internet connection information registration method can also be regarded as an invention related to a write terminal (Internet connection information write terminal) to which the method is applied.  
       [0017] Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING  
     [0018] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention.  
     [0019]FIG. 1 is a view showing the overall arrangement of an Internet connection system using a portable recording medium according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0020]FIG. 2 is a view for explaining an Internet connection information registration service to a memory card  15  at a mass sales store  16  (Internet connection information registration service store) in the system show in FIG. 1;  
     [0021]FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the schematic arrangement of the memory card  15 ;  
     [0022]FIG. 4 is a view for explaining Internet connection from a user-side electronic device (PC  11 ) using the memory card  15  on which Internet connection information  150  is written; and  
     [0023]FIG. 5 is a view for explaining cash back from each provider to the system providing company and Internet connection information registration service store. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
     [0024] The embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawing.  
     [0025]FIG. 1 is a view showing the overall arrangement of an Internet connection system using a portable recording medium according to an embodiment of the present invention.  
     [0026] Referring to FIG. 1, each of electronic devices such as a PC (Personal Computer)  11 , portable telephone  12  as a mobile telephone, electronic camera  13 , and TV apparatus (television apparatus)  14  has a card slot capable of receiving a predetermined portable recording medium, e.g., a stamp-size memory card  15  having a secret storage area which cannot be directly externally accessed, and a communication interface (not shown) such as a modem necessary for connection to the Internet  10 .  
     [0027] In this embodiment, Internet connection information  150  containing a user ID, user password, mail account, mail password, DNS (DNS server address), and access point (telephone number of the connection destination) is registered on the memory card  15  such that the electronic device with the card  15  inserted (to the card slot) can be connected to the Internet  10  (through the server of an Internet provider, i.e., the provider side). The Internet connection information  150  registered on the memory card  15  has a predetermined data format independently of the type of the electronic device (device) such as the PC  11 , portable telephone  12 , electronic camera  13 , or TV apparatus  14 .  
     [0028] The PC  11  has a (computer-readable) recording medium recorded with a specific application program (Internet connection setting application program)  110  which is automatically activated when the memory card  15  is inserted into the corresponding card slot, and reads out the Internet connection information  150  having a predetermined format from the card  15  for automatic connection to the Internet  10 . The electronic device of another type, such as the portable telephone  12 , electronic camera  13 , or TV apparatus  14 , also has a (computer-readable) recording medium recorded with the Internet connection setting application program (to be referred to as an application hereinafter)  110 . This recording medium is a ROM, disk device, or flash memory. The application  110  may be downloaded through a communication line.  
     [0029] Since the electronic device such as the PC  11 , portable telephone  12 , electronic camera  13 , or TV apparatus  14  has the application (Internet connection setting application)  110 , the user can easily connect the device to the Internet  10  only by having the memory card  15  on which the Internet connection information  150  is registered and appropriately inserting the card  15  into the card slot of the electronic device (electronic device such as the PC  11 , portable telephone  12 , electronic camera  13 , or TV apparatus  14 ). The user can connect every device to the Internet  10  by selectively using the single memory card  15  because the memory card  15  does not depend on the electronic device to be used.  
     [0030] In this embodiment, there is a store that provides the registration service of the Internet connection information  150  onto the memory card  15 . A customer takes the memory card  15  to a store of this type or buys the memory card  15  at the store and requests the store side to register the Internet connection information onto the memory card  15 . Referring to FIG. 1, the Internet connection information registration service is provided by a mass sales store  16  and convenience store  17 . For this purpose, the mass sales store  16  prepares a PC  160  having a (computer-readable) recording medium recorded with an application (Internet connection information registration application program)  180  for Internet connection information registration. The convenience store  17  prepares an information write terminal  170  having a (computer-readable) recording medium recorded with not only the application (Internet connection information registration application)  180  for Internet connection information registration to the memory card  15  but also an application for digital content download to the memory card  15 , MD (Mini Disk), or the like.  
     [0031] The number of users (the number of subscribers) who have agreed with Internet providers (to be referred to as providers hereinafter)  18  as a result of the registration service at the Internet connection information registration service store such as the mass sales store  16  or convenience store  17  can be totalized in units of providers  18  and in units of Internet connection information registration service stores. Each provider  18  does cash back  19  according to the number of subscribers to the providing company of this system (Internet connection system using a portable recording medium) and the Internet connection information registration service store (mass sales store  16 , convenience store  17 , or the like) in units of predetermined periods, e.g., in units of months.  
     [0032] The Internet connection information registration (write) service to the memory card  15  at the Internet connection information registration service store, e.g., the mass sales store  16  in the system shown in FIG. 1 will be described next with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.  
     [0033] When the user&#39;s memory card  15  is inserted to the card slot of the PC  160 , as indicated by an arrow a, the Internet connection information registration application  180  is activated. A window (provider list window)  201  of providers (that have agreements with the company for providing the system shown in FIG. 1) is displayed on the display device of the PC  160 .  
     [0034] When the user selects a desired provider or a clerk of the mass sales store  16  selects a provider requested by the user on the provider list window  201 , the PC  160  displays a window  202  representing the contents of the subscriber agreement with the selected provider in accordance with the application  180 . This window  202  has an OK button  202   a.  When the OK button  202   a  is clicked (selected), the window is switched to a payment method selection window  203 . When a payment method is selected, the window is switched to a mail account creation window  204 . When mail account candidates requested by the user are set, the PC  160  connects itself to a server  210  of the provider designated by the user through a line (Internet) and sends the payment method and mail account candidates designated by the user to the server  210 , thereby requesting check, as indicated by an arrow b. Then, the window is switched to an online check window  205 .  
     [0035] The server  210  of the provider designated by the user checks sequentially from the first mail account candidate whether the mail account candidates requested by the user have already been assigned to other users. If a mail account is unassigned, the server  210  decides to assign the mail account to the user. If all candidates have already been assigned, the server  210  requests the PC  160  at the mass sales store  16  to create another mail account candidate.  
     [0036] Upon deciding to assign the mail account requested by the user, the server  210  also decides the user ID, user password, and mail password for the user and transmits pieces of information necessary for Internet connection, including the above pieces of information, DNS, and access point, to the PC  160  at the mass sales store  16 .  
     [0037] The PC  160  at the mass sales store  16  generates the Internet connection information  150  having a predetermined format, including the user ID, user password, mail password, DNS, and access point, on the basis of the information sent from the server  210  of the provider, and starts operation of encrypting the Internet connection information  150  using a media key Km (to be described later) in accordance with a prede-termined algorithm and writing the Internet connection information  150  in the storage area of the memory card  15  inserted to the card slot of the PC  160 . The window is switched to an information writing window  206 .  
     [0038] As shown in FIG. 3, the memory card  15  has a controller  30 , and a storage medium section formed from a public area  31  and secret area  32 .  
     [0039] The secret area  32  is a storage area that can be accessed only by a private procedure (i.e., specific secret procedure) through the controller  30  and has a secret ROM area  320  where a constant such as media identification information (to be referred to as a media key hereinafter) Km unique to the corresponding memory card  15  is stored. The media key Km only need be unique to each memory card  15 , and various kinds of identification information such as a serial number, manufacturing number (manufacturing number or manufacturing lot number of each memory card  15 ) can be used. The secret ROM area  320  is ensured, e.g., on the ROM (Read only Memory).  
     [0040] The public area  31  is an area except the secret area, which can be accessed by a normal access, and has a rewritable public area (to be referred to as a public R/W area hereinafter)  310 . The Internet connection information  150  encrypted by the media key Km is written to a predetermined position of the public R/W area  310 . The public R/W area  310  is ensured, e.g., in specific area of a flash memory (rewritable nonvolatile memory).  
     [0041] When the Internet connection information  150  is completely written in the public R/W area  310 , the PC  160  switches the window to an inquiry window  207  for inquiring the user whether the information on the memory card  15  need be protected by a password.  
     [0042] If the user requests protection by a password, the PC  160  makes the user to designate the password. The PC  160  encrypts the password designated by the user in accordance with a predetermined algorithm and writes it to a predetermined position in the public R/W area  310  of the memory card  15  as a password  311 . The encrypted password  311  is used as a key to extract the media key Km from the secret ROM area  320 . When the password  311  is completely written on the memory card  15 , the PC  160  ends the series of Internet connection information write processing, i.e., user registration processing operations. In this case, the PC  160  switches the window to a window  208  representing completion of user registration and also notifies an agreement count server  211  of the enterprise (system providing company), which has developed this system, of completion of user registration through, e.g., the Internet, as indicated by an arrow c. If protection by a password is not requested, the PC  160  immediately switches the window to the user registration completion window  208  and notifies the agreement count server  211  of completion of user registration, as indicated by the arrow c. This user registration completion notification also contains the information of the provider that has made the agreement with the user.  
     [0043] The agreement count server  211  counts (totalizes) the numbers of users (the number of subscribers) having agreements with the providers in units of Internet connection information registration service stores such as the mass sales store  16 . Upon receiving the user registration completion notification from the PC  160  at the mass sales store  16 , the agreement count server  211  increments the number of subscribers to the provider of notification by one and increments the number of subscribers handled by the store (mass sales store  16 ) that has done the Internet connection information registration service for connection to the provider by one.  
     [0044] Internet connection by the user-side electronic device using the memory card  15  on which the Internet connection information  150  is written in the above-described way will be described next with reference to FIG. 4.  
     [0045] Assume that the user inserts the memory card  15  having the Internet connection information  150  written thereon into the memory card slot of the electronic device such as the PC  11 , portable telephone  12 , electronic camera  13 , or TV apparatus  14  shown in FIG. 1. Assume that the electronic device is the PC  11 , as shown in FIG. 4.  
     [0046] The PC  11  loads information from a predetermined position of the memory card  15 . Information for activating the application  110  is written at this predetermined position of the memory card  15 . Hence, when the PC  11  loads the information, the application  110  is activated (step  401 ).  
     [0047] The PC  11  operates in accordance with the application  110  in the following manner.  
     [0048] First, the PC  11  loads the Internet connection information  150  encrypted by the media key Km from the memory card  15  (from the public R/W area  310  of the memory card  15 ) (step  402 ). The PC  11  checks whether the Internet connection information  150  is protected by a password, i.e., the password  311  is registered on the memory card  15  (step  403 ).  
     [0049] If YES in step  403 , the PC  11  causes the user to input the password. The PC  11  reads out the encrypted password  311  from the memory card  15  (from the public R/W area  310  of the memory card  15 ) and compares/ collates it with the password input by the user (step  404 ). In this case, the password  311  read out from the memory card  15  may be decrypted and collated with the password, or the input password may be encrypted and collated with the password  311  read out from the memory card  15 . If the passwords do not match, the PC  11  determines that the user is not the authentic holder of the memory card  15  and ends the processing (step  405 ).  
     [0050] If the passwords match, the PC  11  determines that the user is the authentic holder of the memory card  15 . In this case, the PC  11  and memory card  15  (the controller  30  of the memory card  15 ) authenticate each other in accordance with a known procedure to confirm that both parties are authentic, thereby exchanging keys and sharing a single authentication key (K×1) (step  406 ). This key exchange is done by, e-g., a method using random challenge response represented by a CSS (Content Scrambling System) used as a content encryption algorithm for a DVD-ROM. The authentication key (K×1) is a time-variant key that changes every time.  
     [0051] If NO in step  403 , the PC  11  immediately advances to step  406  to perform mutual authentication and then key exchange to share a single authentication key (K×1).  
     [0052] When sharing the single authentication key (K×1) with the memory card  15 , the PC  11  requests the memory card  15  (the controller  30  of the memory card  15 ) for the media key Km stored on the memory card  15  (in the secret ROM area  320  of the memory card  15 ). The controller  30  of the memory card  15  reads out the media key Km stored in the secret ROM area  320 , encrypts the media key Km by the authentication key (K×1), and sends the encrypted media key Km (=K×1[Km]) to the PC  11 .  
     [0053] upon receiving the encrypted media key Km (=K×1[Km]) sent from the memory card  15  (the controller  30  of the memory card  15 ), the PC  11  decrypts the media key Km using the authentication key (K×1) acquired by the preceding key exchange, thereby obtaining the media key Km (step  407 ). The procedure of obtaining the media key Km is also applied to a case wherein the PC  160  at the mass sales store  16  will acquire the media key Km to be used to encrypt the Internet connection information  150  from the provider server  210 .  
     [0054] The PC  11  acquires the decrypted media key Km and decrypts, by the acquired media key Km, the Internet connection information  150  encrypted (by the media key Km) and loaded from the memory card  15  in step  402  (step  408 ). Thus, the PC  11  acquires the decrypted Internet connection information  150 .  
     [0055] On the basis of the acquired Internet connection information  150 , the PC  11  executes setting for dialup connection for connecting itself to the provider  18  (to the Internet  10  through the provider  18 ) and setting for mail on a predetermined area of a nonvolatile storage means such as a flash memory in accordance with the application  110  (step  409 ). With this processing, setting for connection to the Internet  10  is ended (step  410 ), so the user can access the Internet  10  from the PC  11 . That is, setting for connection to the Internet  10  can be automatically done only by inserting the memory card  15  with the Internet connection information  150  written thereon into the card slot of the PC  11  by the user. Even for an electronic device other than the PC  11 , e.g., the portable telephone  12 , electronic camera  13 , or TV apparatus  14  shown in FIG. 1, which has the card slot for the memory card  15  and the application  110  (stored or downloaded in advance), setting for connection to the Internet  10  can be automatically performed only by inserting the memory card  15  with the Internet connection information  150  written thereon into the card slot of the electronic device. In activating the application  110 , it may be checked whether Internet connection setting has already been done, and if so, the Internet connection setting operation may be suppressed. For this purpose, flag information representing whether the Internet connection setting has already been done is set to a predetermined position of the nonvolatile storage means.  
     [0056] Finally, cash back from each provider  18  to the system providing company and Internet connection information registration service store will be described with reference to FIG. 5.  
     [0057] Assume that the providers  18  comprise two providers  18 X and  18 Y, the Internet connection information registration service store which has done the Internet connection information registration service with user subscription to the provider  18 X comprises a mass sales store  16 A, and the Internet connection information registration service store which has done the Internet connection information registration service with user subscription to the provider  18 Y is a mass sales store  16 B. Let γ be the total cash back rate per subscriber from the provider  18 X to the Internet connection information registration service store (mass sales store  16 A) and system providing company  51 , and δ be the total cash back rate per subscriber from the provider  18 Y. Let ε: (1−ε) be the ratio between cash back to the system providing company  51  and that to the Internet connection information registration service stores (mass sales stores  16 A and  16 B) for the cash back rates γ and δ from the providers  18 X and  18 Y.  
     [0058] The agreement count server  211  of the system providing company  51  holds count information representing the number of subscribers from each service store to each provider in units of Internet connection information registration service stores. This count information contains the number α of subscribers from, e.g., the mass sales store  16 A to the provider  18 X and the number β of subscribers from the mass sales store  16 B to the provider  18 Y.  
     [0059] The agreement count server  211  notifies each provider of the number of subscribers from each Internet connection information registration service store periodically, e.g., every month on the basis of the contents held by the server  211  itself. Hence, the provider  18 X is notified that the number of subscribers from the mass sales store  16 A is α (step  501 ), and the provider  18 Y is notified that the number of subscribers from the mass sales store  16 B is β (step  502 ).  
     [0060] The provider  18 x makes cash back of γ×α×(1−ε) yen to the mass sales store  16 A and cash back of γ×α×ε yen to the system providing company  51  (steps  503  and  504 ). On the other hand, the provider  18 Y makes cash back of δ×β×(1−ε) yen to the mass sales store  16 B and cash back of δ×β×ε yen to the system providing company  51  (steps  505  and  506 ). Hence, the system providing company  51  receives cash back of γ×α×ε+δ×β×ε yen (step  507 ).  
     [0061] In the above-described embodiment, a stamp-size memory card is used as a portable recording medium. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a memory card having any other shape or a portable recording medium other than a memory card, such as a floppy disk or MD can also be used. If the Internet connection information need not be protected, the storage area of the portable recording medium need not always have the public area and the secret area where the media key Km is stored.  
     [0062] As has been described above in detail, according to the present invention, automatic setting for Internet connection using a portable recording medium can be implemented.  
     [0063] In addition, according to the present invention, a business by the Internet connection information registration service which allows automatic setting for Internet connection using a portable recording medium can be implemented.  
     [0064] Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.