Patent ID: 8069158

Claim:
A receiving apparatus to download content data from a server through a network, comprising: a communicating unit, included in the receiving apparatus, configured to communicate a reception start request for the content data to, and to download the content data from, said server through said network; a storing unit, included in the receiving apparatus, configured to store the content data; a connecting unit, included in the receiving apparatus, configured to connect a recording apparatus to the receiving apparatus; a determining unit configured to determine whether a storing medium, used by the recording apparatus, is of a built-in type, in which the storing medium is built into the recording apparatus, or of a detachable type, in which the storing medium can be loaded into, and removed from, the recording apparatus; a detecting unit configured to determine whether said storing medium has been loaded into the recording apparatus, when the recording apparatus is determined to use the storing medium of the detachable type; and a controlling unit, included in the receiving apparatus, configured, for each reception start request communicated by the communicating unit to said server, to determine whether the downloaded content data is to be recorded into the recording apparatus, based on whether the recording apparatus is connected to said connecting unit when the reception start request to download the content data is communicated to said server and, when the storing medium is determined to be of the detachable type, based on the determination of whether the storing medium of the detachable type has been loaded; to automatically store the downloaded content data into the storing unit of the receiving apparatus, when the controlling unit determines that the downloaded content data is not to be recorded into the recording apparatus, and to automatically store the downloaded content data into the storing unit of the receiving apparatus and to automatically record the downloaded content data into the recording apparatus, when the controlling unit determines that the downloaded content data is to be recorded into the recording apparatus.