Patent ID: 8755674

Claim:
An information recording apparatus, comprising: a recording unit operable to determine the data amount of new content to be recorded, to determine whether a current free recording capacity of a recording medium is sufficient to record the new content based on the data amount of the new content, and to record the new content onto the recording medium in response to said recording unit determining that the current free recording capacity of the recording medium is sufficient to record the new content; a storage unit operable to store terminal information for contacting an information processing terminal; a notification unit operable to acquire, from the storage unit, the terminal information for contacting the information processing terminal and to send, over a network to the information processing terminal using the terminal information, a notification indicating the current free recording capacity of the recording medium is insufficient to record the new content, wherein the notification is sent based on a result of a determination whether another notification is received that a response from the information processing terminal to a request, the request being provided over the network to the information processing terminal and associated with provision of service to execute unattended recording of the new content onto the recording medium when a determination by the recording unit is that the current free recording capacity of the recording medium is insufficient to record the new content, is received before a predetermined time elapses after the request is provided; a receiver operable to receive the another notification and a user-entered instruction transmitted over the network by the information processing terminal; a processor operable to control said recording unit, based on the user-entered instruction, to process, at least a portion of prior content previously recorded on the recording medium; and wherein the unattended recording of the new content onto the recording medium is preset at the information processing terminal, a genre is designated at the information processing terminal, and content found to belong to the designated genre is preset as the new content to be recorded unattended onto the recording medium, the recording unit determines whether the current free recording capacity of the recording medium is sufficient to record the new content prior to the unattended recording of the new content, and said receiver receives the user-entered instruction in an e-mail message.