Patent ID: 7206767

Claim:
A content distribution system including at least one distribution server for distributing digital contents via a network in response to requests from user terminals, said content distribution system comprising: a reference server operable to hold at least one piece of location information showing a location of a distribution server on the network, and to transmit one of the pieces of location information to one of the user terminals in response to a user request, wherein each distribution server includes: a receiving unit operable to receive a purchase fee for a digital content from one of the user terminals when said distribution server is accessed by the user terminal; a transmission unit operable to transmit the digital content to the user terminal if payment has been made; a determining unit operable to determine, when said distribution server is accessed by the user terminal, whether or not the user terminal has connected to said distribution server by using a piece of location information received from said reference server as a connection target; and a payment unit operable to pay a predetermined percentage of a purchase fee for the digital content to said reference server as a commission for providing the location of said distribution server to the user terminal, when the user terminal is determined by said determining unit to have connected to said distribution server by using the piece of location information received from said reference server.