Patent ID: 7590412

Claim:
A terminal device connected, in a communication-enabled manner, with a center device, so that image and/or sound data is received from the center device, the center device being connected with at least one external device, the terminal device comprising: a communication section for communicating with the center device; and a control section for controlling an operation of the terminal device, the control section including: information acquiring means for acquiring, from the center device via the communication section, identification information for identifying the external device; remote-operation data producing means for generating remote-operation data when a remote operation is performed with respect to the external device, the remote-operation data containing (a) remote operation information indicating content of the remote operation, and (b) identification information of the external device to be subjected to the remote operation; and remote-operation data transmitting means for transmitting, to the center device via the communication section, the remote-operation data having been generated by the remote-operation data producing means, wherein: the information acquiring means further acquires, from the center device via the communication section, device-use-information indicating a use-status of the external device; and the remote-operation data producing means, the remote-operation data transmitting means, or both means judges, based on the device-use-information, whether or not the operation is performed, and wherein the device-use-information is (a) TERMINAL information indicating a terminal device using the external device, (b) OPERATION ENABLED/DISABLED information indicating whether or not it is possible to perform remote operation by using another terminal device, (c) VIEWTNG ENABLED/DISABLED information indicating whether or not it is possible to view/listen to an image and/or sound outputted from the external device by using the other terminal device, or (d) any combination of (a), (b), and (c).