Patent ID: 8356307

Claim:
An information processing apparatus comprising: an activation unit configured to activate data having an executable format, the data having the executable format including digital information to which (i) restricting attribute information defining contents of an operation restriction on the digital information, and (ii) a restricting program that monitors and controls one or more operations on the digital information, are added; a read unit configured to read, from the restricting program added to the digital information included with the data having the executable format, a restricting routine section that monitors and controls the one or more operations on the digital information, and to activate the restricting routine section; an acquisition unit configured to acquire a target application that operates on the digital information using the restricting attribute information; an application activation unit configured to activate the target application acquired by the acquisition unit, wherein the application activation unit is configured such that, if the restricting attribute information contains no application information specifying the target application, the application activation unit automatically recognizes the target application to be activated; a determination unit configured to determine whether the target application has been successfully activated by the application activation unit; a deactivation unit configured to deactivate the data having the executable format, if the determination unit determines that activation of the target application has failed; an operation unit configured to decode the digital information into a state operable by the target application, if the determination unit determines that the target application has been successfully activated; and a processing unit configured to transfer decoded digital information to the target application, if the determination unit determines that the target application has been successfully activated.