An appliance control device comprising: a storage unit for storing one or more protocol specification used for requesting execution of functions, the protocol specification or each of the protocol specifications being defined to enable execution of a respective function in a first appliance; and a control unit configured so as to: acquire, from the first appliance, a list identifying one or more functions executable by the first appliance, the list including information indicative of a corresponding protocol specification corresponding to each said function executable by the first appliance; compare the corresponding protocol specification indicated in the list with a protocol specification stored in the storage unit; and, transmit, as a result of the comparison, a request to the first appliance for execution of a desired function selected from the list identifying the one or more functions executable by the first appliance, the transmitted request being transmitted in accordance with a specified protocol selected from a specified plurality of protocols, the specified protocol being selected from the specified plurality of protocols based on the information in the list indicative of the corresponding protocol specification corresponding to the desired function. a storage unit for storing one or more protocol specification used for requesting execution of functions, the protocol specification or each of the protocol specifications being defined to enable execution of a respective function in a first appliance; and a control unit configured so as to: acquire, from the first appliance, a list identifying one or more functions executable by the first appliance, the list including information indicative of a corresponding protocol specification corresponding to each said function executable by the first appliance; compare the corresponding protocol specification indicated in the list with a protocol specification stored in the storage unit; and, transmit, as a result of the comparison, a request to the first appliance for execution of a desired function selected from the list identifying the one or more functions executable by the first appliance, the transmitted request being transmitted in accordance with a specified protocol selected from a specified plurality of protocols, the specified protocol being selected from the specified plurality of protocols based on the information in the list indicative of the corresponding protocol specification corresponding to the desired function. acquire, from the first appliance, a list identifying one or more functions executable by the first appliance, the list including information indicative of a corresponding protocol specification corresponding to each said function executable by the first appliance; compare the corresponding protocol specification indicated in the list with a protocol specification stored in the storage unit; and, transmit, as a result of the comparison, a request to the first appliance for execution of a desired function selected from the list identifying the one or more functions executable by the first appliance, the transmitted request being transmitted in accordance with a specified protocol selected from a specified plurality of protocols, the specified protocol being selected from the specified plurality of protocols based on the information in the list indicative of the corresponding protocol specification corresponding to the desired function.