Patent ID: 8522339

Claim:
A playback apparatus, comprising: hardware that includes a drive operable to read data including a benchmark program and audiovisual data from a recording medium, a player operable to play back the audiovisual data, and a processor operable to execute a firmware program for use in control of the hardware; an initializer operable to perform initialization when the processor executes the firmware program; and a storage having a recording area, the recording area being identified by a file path, wherein the processor, when an application program makes a request to access a benchmark score written in the recording area, judges validity of a credential corresponding to the application program, and if the credential is valid, further judges whether to permit the application program to access the benchmark score according to access right information of the application program, which is included in the credential, the benchmark score is included in the firmware program, the benchmark score indicates a processing capability of the hardware and the benchmark score is a result of prescribed processing that the hardware executes according to an instruction received from the benchmark program via the firmware program, at initial execution of the firmware program by the processor, the initializer enables the application program to access the benchmark score by writing the benchmark score created by execution of the benchmark program into the recording area of the storage, and the initializer judges whether the recording area identified by the file path stores the benchmark score, and if the recording area does not store the benchmark score, the initializer writes the benchmark score created by execution of the benchmark program into the recording area identified by the file path.