Patent ID: 8149808

Claim:
An electronic apparatus that can be connected to a network, the electronic apparatus comprising: communication interface for communicating with at least one other electronic apparatus existing on the network; and an Automatic Private IP addressing (APIA) unit, implemented by at least one processor, that sets a temporary address that is temporarily valid on the network, after it is determined that an address management apparatus connected to the electronic apparatus over the network has not set an address for the electronic apparatus upon a request from the electronic apparatus; an address-requesting unit, implemented by the at least one processor, that requests, at predetermined time intervals, that the address management apparatus set the address for the electronic apparatus in accordance with Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), when the temporary address is set; and an address-request stopping unit, implemented by the at least one processor, that: in response to an instruction received during a time interval of the predetermined time intervals that instructs the electronic apparatus to start a communication session to distribute streaming data between the communication interface and the at least one other electronic apparatus, inhibits the address-requesting unit from requesting that the address management apparatus set the address for the electronic apparatus in accordance with the DHCP, wherein the inhibition prevents switching during the communication session from the temporary address to the address provided to the electronic apparatus by the address management apparatus; and when it is determined that the streaming data has been distributed and the electronic apparatus has terminated the communication session, stops inhibiting the address-requesting unit from requesting that the address management apparatus set the address for the electronic apparatus in accordance with the DHCP.