Patent ID: 6856966

Claim:
A data providing method for providing a purchaser with first data from a retail seller onto a rewritable record medium through a purchase request, the seller having a data providing system having a data delivery portion for delivering the first data to the purchaser and a data intermediate portion connected with the data delivery portion via a communication line for intermediating between the data delivery portion and the rewritable record medium of the purchaser, the method comprising: recording, for the purchaser, second data onto the rewritable record medium, the second data representing identification information of the purchaser; retrieving, for the seller, the second data from the rewritable record medium onto the data intermediate portion; producing third data including purchase information on an available purchaser balance for purchasing the first data; recording the third data onto the rewritable record medium as purchaser third data; registering for the purchaser the third data in the data providing system as registered third data; retrieving the registered third data of the purchaser from the data providing system based on the second data recorded in the rewritable record medium, when the purchaser makes the purchase request of the first data; comparing a registered relevant portion of the registered third data with a purchaser relevant portion of the purchaser third data that corresponds to the registered relevant portion to determine matching between the corresponding relevant portions; performing an accounting operation that provides the purchaser with the first data in response to matching between corresponding relevant portions, the accounting operation producing additional third data that represent the purchase information for purchasing the first data; recording, from the data delivery portion onto the rewritable record medium, the first data and the additional third data, after the accounting operation is performed; and registering in the data providing system the additional third data, after the accounting operation is performed.