Patent ID: 7294776

Claim:
A method for execution by a client apparatus, connected to a communication network, to receive content data, said method comprising: a step of receiving, from an external content supplier, content data and first management information that enables trial use of the content data and then storing the received content data and first management information in memory; a step of, in response to operation of a user of said client apparatus desiring normal use of the content data stored in said memory, issuing a normal use request to a server apparatus connected to the communication network; a step of receiving, via the communication network, second management information supplied by said server apparatus in response to the normal use request, said second management information authorizing the normal use of the content data; a step of, in response to reception of said second management information from said server apparatus, replacing said first management information corresponding to the content data of which the normal use is requested, stored in said memory, with said second management information and a reproduction control step of, when desired content data is to be reproduced by said client apparatus, reproducing the content data on a trial basis with a limited reproduction function if said first management information is attached to the content data to be reproduced, and reproducing the content data normally with no reproduction function limitation if said second management information is attached to the content data to be reproduced.