Patent ID: 7031944

Claim:
A distributed processing method in which a processing task is distributed to a plurality of user terminals in a network and executed by the plurality of user terminals, said distributed processing method comprising: a collection/distribution server dividing said processing task into one or more processing units and distributing the units to said user terminals so that: each user terminal of said plurality of user terminals receiving a processing unit transmitted from said collection/distribution server via the network can execute the processing unit under control of a license application installed in the user terminal; and each user terminal of said plurality of user terminals can then send back a processing result to said collection/distribution server via the network, wherein said license application provides each said user terminal with a license for using a user application as a value for executing said processing unit, said license indicating an agreement that said user application can be executed by said user terminal as a value for executing said processing unit, instead of paying a predetermined license fee.