Patent ID: 8731371

Claim:
An information processing system wherein a plurality of information processing devices are connected via a network, wherein the information processing device comprises: a playback processing unit operative to execute a playback process of content data that is to be played back; a control unit operative to execute a communication tool with which grouped users convey information with each other via the network; and a display processing unit operative to generate a content image from the content data to be displayed on a display, wherein: the control unit defines a display area for the communication tool to be executed, based on a plurality of types of display instruction information, where each type of display instruction information defines respective display requirements, including: (i) whether or not the communication tool is permitted; and (ii) whether or not the display area for the communication tool is permitted to be superimposed on the content image for display on the display, each of the plurality of types of display instruction information is associated in an attribute table with a respective time period within the playback time of the content data during which the communication tool is permitted to be invoked in accordance with the respective type of display instruction information, where at least two of the respective times periods are different, and the control unit defines the display area for the communication tool to be executed based on the type of display instruction information and the associated time period from the attribute table, such that the display area for the communication tool is displayed in accordance with the respective display requirements of the plurality of types of display instruction information and the associated respective time periods within the playback time of the content data.