Patent ID: 7200231

Claim:
An information distribution processing system in which a plurality of information processing apparatuses are connected through a network comprising: a first information processing apparatus comprising a first additional unit adapted to add first additional information to distribution information as an electronic watermark using a first adding method; a second information processing apparatus comprising a second additional unit adapted to add second additional information to distribution information as an electronic watermark using a second adding method; and a third information processing apparatus comprising: a first reception unit adapted to receive distribution information, to which is added the first additional information and the second additional information; a first extraction unit adapted to extract the first additional information from the first received distribution information by using a first extracting method corresponding to the first adding method; and an identification unit adapted to identify a fourth information processing apparatus based on the extracted first additional information, said identified fourth information processing apparatus comprising: a second reception unit adapted to receive distribution information, to which is added the first additional information and the second additional information; and a second extraction unit adapted to extract the second additional information from the second received distribution information by using a second extracting method corresponding to the second adding method.