Patent ID: 7181628

Claim:
An information terminal which manages encrypted content data and rights data used for decrypting the encrypted content data, and which is operable to store the encrypted content data and the rights data on an external storage medium, said information terminal comprising: detecting means for detecting, that an item of encrypted content data and an item of rights data corresponding thereto are to be stored on the external storage medium, and for then detecting one of: (i) that a same encrypted content as the item of encrypted content data to be stored is already stored on the external storage medium, and (ii) that the same encrypted content as the item of encrypted content data to be stored is not already stored on the external storage medium; generating means for (i) generating, at the information terminal, first management data that includes first identification information identifying the item of encrypted content data and second identification information identifying the corresponding item of rights data, responsive to the detecting means not detecting the same encrypted content on the external storage medium, and (ii) generating, at the information terminal, second management data that includes third identification information identifying the item of encrypted content data already stored on the external storage medium and the second identification information identifying the item of rights data, responsive to the detecting means detecting the same encrypted content on the external storage medium; and writing means for (i) writing from the information terminal to the external storage medium the generated first management data, the encrypted content data, and the rights data onto the external storage medium, responsive to the detecting means not detecting the same encrypted content on the external storage medium, and (ii) writing from the information terminal to the external storage medium the generated second management data and rights data, but not the encrypted content data, onto the external storage medium, responsive to the detecting means detecting the same encrypted content on the external storage medium.