Patent ID: 8270811

Claim:
An information management method for managing whether to allow playback of copyrighted content using a portable player for playing back content from a recording medium and an information management apparatus that communicates with the portable player and having the content recorded in a storage, the information management apparatus configured to manage playback permission of the content at the portable player with a table, the information management method comprising: reducing a bit rate of the content that is stored at the information management apparatus and maintaining a original copy of the content on the storage of the information management apparatus, based on capability information related to the portable player that is stored on the recording medium; moving the content with reduced bit rate to the recording medium of the portable player; registering a destination identification associated to the portable player and the content with the reduced bit rate at the information management apparatus in the table; playback-permission requesting, executed by the playback controlling means of the portable player, after the content with reduced bit rate has been received at the portable player, by sending a playback request for the content with the reduced bit rate that is in a playback-prohibition state to the information management apparatus, for requesting the information management apparatus to issue playback permission for the portable player for the received content based on the playback-management information; temporary-permission sending, executed by playback-status management means of the information management apparatus, after a playback-permission request for content is received from the portable player, of returning temporary-permission information for temporarily permitting playback to the portable player only when the content is not being played back by another information playback apparatus by verifying said table of the information management apparatus; playback processing, executed by the playback controlling means of the portable player, when the temporary-permission information from the information management apparatus is received, of temporarily permitting playback of the associated content on the recording medium by the portable player; and deleting the content with reduced bit rate that is stored on the recording medium of the portable player after said step of playback processing, and updating a status for playback permission for the content at the table of the information management apparatus.