Patent ID: 7428513

Claim:
An information-processing apparatus for transmitting data through a network, comprising: judgment means for forming a judgment as to which of at least two parties initiated an action for transferring one or more data units through said network; multiplexing means for multiplexing a unit cost per unit data and a first magnitude for each data unit in said data transferred through said network when said judgment means judges that the action was initiated by a first party and for multiplexing a unit cost per unit data and a second magnitude for each data unit in said data transferred through said network when said judgment means judges that the action was initiated by a second party, wherein when the judgment is formed that the first party initiated an action for transferring one or more data units through said network and the first magnitude is positive, a cost is beared by the first party, wherein when the judgment is formed that the first party initiated an action for transferring one or more data units through said network and the first magnitude is negative, a cost is beared by the second party, wherein when the judgment is formed that the second party initiated an action for transferring one or more data units through said network and the first magnitude is positive, a cost is beared by the second party, wherein when the judgment is formed that the second party initiated an action for transferring one or more data units through said network and the first magnitude is negative, a cost is beared by the first party; transmission means for transmitting said data multiplexed with said unit cost by said multiplexing means through said network, wherein the transmitted data is comprised of a plurality of data units, each of which comprises an associated magnitude.