Patent ID: 7031239

Claim:
An information recording medium, comprising: a data area for recording user data, and a defect management area for recording a defect list for managing N number of defect areas existing in the data area, where N is an integer satisfying N≧0; wherein: the defect list includes: a header located at a fixed position in the defect list, N number of defect entries respectively including position information on positions of the N number of defect areas, and an anchor; the header, the N number of defect entries, and the anchor are located in this order in the defect list; the header includes: a defect list identifier for identifying the defect list, first update times information representing the number of times which the defect list has been updated, and a defect entry number representing the number of the N number of defect entries; and the anchor includes: an anchor identifier for identifying the anchor of the defect list, and second update times information representing the number of times which the defect list has been updated.