Patent ID: 7693148

Claim:
A digital broadcast receiving apparatus having a function of receiving a digital broadcast signal and generating a video signal and an audio signal from a transport stream associated with a broadcast program selected by a user, said digital broadcast receiving apparatus comprising: address reading means for reading from the transport stream an IP address of a bidirectional server associated with the selected broadcast program; detecting means for detecting, from the transport stream, instructions for performing a method of at least one of data transmission and data reception between the digital broadcast receiving apparatus and the bidirectional server; a modem for performing the method of at least one of data transmission and data reception over a telephone line; a network interface for performing the method of at least one of data transmission and data reception over the Internet; and wherein the method of at least one of data transmission and data reception is performed via the modem if a first communication form is selected by the user, is performed via the modem using an Internet provider if a second communication form is selected by the user, and is performed via the network interface using if a third communication form is selected by the user.