Patent ID: 8010625

Claim:
A content providing system comprising: a content providing server including a processor and connected to a network and storing a plurality of items of content; and a client connected to the network, the content providing server sending requested content data to the client over the network in response to a request from the client to provide at least one of the plural items of content data, the client comprising a drive for writing content data onto a removable medium and a fixed medium device incorporated in the client and configured to read and write data and configured to store the requested content data thereon; and wherein the content providing server comprises a client program which is sent from the content providing server in response to the request from the client to provide an entire content data, the client program comprising a drive detection program for determining whether the client has the drive, a removable medium detection program for determining whether a writable removable medium is loaded on the drive, and a writing program for writing content data sent from the content providing server onto the removable medium on the client, thereby saving the content data thereon, a storage means for storing each of said plural items of content data, a drive detection program sending means for sending the drive detection program to the client as part of the client program, a removable medium detection program sending means for sending the removable medium detection program to the client as part of the client program, a content data sending means for sending blocks of the requested content data stored in the storage means to the client over the network, each block of requested content data being sent upon the request from the client, and a writing program sending means for sending the writing program to the client as part of the client program; wherein the client writes the blocks of the requested content data, which are each sent from the content providing server, upon the request from the client, successively onto the removable medium by executing the client program, without storing the entire requested content data on the fixed medium device; wherein the client program further comprises a fixed medium storage prevention program for execution by the client, which prevents content data received by the client from being written successively on the fixed medium device, thereby preventing the content data from being stored thereon; and wherein the content providing server further comprises a fixed medium storage prevention program sending means for sending the fixed medium storage prevention program to the client as part of the client program.