WO2003036537A1

WO2003036537A1 - Electronic information delivery system

Info

Publication number: WO2003036537A1
Application number: PCT/JP2002/010930
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yutaka Yasukura
Original assignee: Global Friendship Inc.
Priority date: 2001-10-23
Filing date: 2002-10-22
Publication date: 2003-05-01
Also published as: JP2003132229A

Abstract

In an electronic information delivery system, a server machine (10) of a transmitter (1) includes electronic piece generating means and divides electronic information into first piece information and second piece information, so that the first piece information is transmitted via a first communication path to a center machine (30) of a relay machine (3) and stored in a storage unit while the second piece information is transmitted via a second communication path to a client machine (20) of a receiver (2). In response to a request from the client machine (20), the center machine (30) transmits the first piece information. The client machine (20) has electronic piece integration means and receives the second piece information. When utilizing the electronic information, the client machine fetches the first piece information from the center machine (30) and integrates it with the second piece information by the electronic piece integration means, thereby restoring the original electronic information. Thus, when trading electronic information, it is possible to safely transmit electronic information and perform settlement after confirming that a buyer has received a target commodity.

Description

Electronic Information Delivery System Technical Field

The present invention relates to an electronic information delivery system that enables rational transmission and settlement of electronic information between a seller and a buyer when trading electronic information. Back ^; landscape technology

When electronic information is exchanged through a network, the contents can be falsified, rewritten, or replaced, and there is no trace of the information, making it difficult to detect after the fact. In addition, it was relatively easy to steal and use in the middle of a communication channel. Conventionally, in such a case, a method of ensuring security by encrypting and sending electronic information has been used. However, since all electronic information to be sent is included in the communication data, the encryption method is extremely powerful when communication is leaked, and it is possible for an infringer to decrypt or falsify the electronic information. .

In the past, when trading electronic information such as music, games, computer programs, databases, design documents, etc. as merchandise, when a buyer issues a credit, the seller can check the credit and settle the credit. It was normal to send the goods if they could confirm that they were there. Settlement is possible if the seller sends the product, regardless of whether the buyer has obtained the product in its entirety, and it can be said that the seller and the buyer trade rationally on an equal footing. There was no state. Disclosure of departure

Therefore, the present invention provides electronic information that can be securely transmitted when electronic information is traded as a product, and that can be used to make a payment after confirming that the buyer has received the desired product. It is intended to provide a delivery system.

The electronic information delivery system according to the present invention comprises a sender having a server machine and a client. A relay machine with a center machine intervenes between receivers with a remote machine to securely send electronic information as goods, and the sender's server machine has electronic tally generation means. The electronic information is divided into the first tally information and the second tally information, and the first tally information is sent to the center machine of the relay organization via the first communication path, stored and stored in the storage device, and receives the second tally information. The relay machine sends the first tally information to the hand client machine through the second communication path, the center machine of the relay organization sends the first tally information in response to the request from the receiver, and the receiver client machine has electronic tally integration means. Therefore, when receiving the tally information and using the electronic information, the first tally information is obtained from the transit agency and the tally information and the second tally information are integrated by the electronic tally integration means. Characterized in that to restore the original electronic information by.

'Here, the electronic tally is a half of the electronic information divided into two or more. By integrating and integrating all the electronic tally, the original electronic information can be restored.

The sender divides the electronic information to form an electronic tally, and the user collects and integrates all of the divided electronic tallies to restore the original electronic information for use.

According to the present invention, the electronic tally generated by the seller is transmitted through different routes at different times. Therefore, since all of the electronic information does not exist on the communication path connecting the seller and the buyer at the same time, even if the electronic information is leaked in the communication path, the thief cannot use it, so the electronic information is safe. is there. Also, it is easy to protect information at the relay organization that stores the tally.

As described above, if electronic information is delivered using the present invention, the copyright protection of the electronic information is also thorough.

Further, if the buyer obtains the remaining electronic tally from the intermediary agency and then settles the price, the payment is made after confirming that the goods have reached the buyer, so that the buyer can be satisfied. Business.

As the electronic tally generation means and the electronic tally integration means, the method disclosed by the applicant of the present invention in International Publication WO 00/43558 can be used.

Using this disclosure method, the electronic tally generation means provided in the sender's server machine is configured to divide the electronic information into a plurality of electronic information elements, Is allocated to the first electronic information block and the second electronic information block, the order of the electronic information elements is changed in each electronic information block, and the restoration information that records the division and order change procedure is generated and all of the information is generated. Alternatively, each of the divided ones may be included in the first and second electronic information blocks to form the first and second electronic tally. When such electronic information generation means is used, the electronic tally integration means provided in the receiving client machine collects the first and second electronic tallies formed by the electronic tally generation means and collects each electronic tally. It is preferable that the electronic information is restored based on the restored information for the tally information block.

If such electronic tally generation means is used, it is extremely difficult to estimate the contents of each electronic tally as it is despite simple operations. Unless both the electronic tally and the second electronic tally are available, they cannot be used, and the electronic information is extremely secure.

On the other hand, even if a very small part of the electronic information is distributed, it is difficult to restore the original electronic information from the rest, so reducing the capacity of the electronic tally deposited with the relay agency It is possible to reduce the load on the relay engine.

In addition, the first electronic tally deposited with the relay agency may be deleted from the storage device after the receipt of the recipient is confirmed.

If the electronic tally is kept indefinitely, the load on the storage device of the relay organization becomes excessive, so it is preferable to delete the unnecessary electronic information promptly. However, if you send the electronic tally to the recipient and delete it immediately, there will be a problem when the necessary electronic tally does not reach the recipient due to some problem during the delivery. It is preferable to delete the information beforehand.

The acknowledgment may be sent simply after confirming that the information has arrived. However, sending it only when the electronic tally information or the original information can be restored will provide more protection to the buyer.

In addition, the intermediary may receive the notice of receipt of the first tally information from the recipient before processing the settlement of the cost.

The transit agency performs such agency settlement, which enables product delivery and payment settlement. In addition to making sure, the buyer only needs to present the settlement information to the intermediary agency and the intermediary agency checks the credit, eliminating the need for the buyer to present the settlement information to the seller and the seller to perform individual credit check. Both buyers and sellers can omit complicated procedures.

By introducing a credit check function and a settlement function in a relay organization, it is possible to construct an electronic information delivery system that is extremely easy to use.

By generating three or more electronic tallies and sending them using multiple communication channels, communication security can be further improved. Needless to say, the use of a plurality of transit agencies increases security at the expense of complexity.

In addition, it is preferable that the seller decides a new method of dividing and distributing electronic information every time a transaction is made and converts it into an electronic tally.

In addition, as a receiver's client machine, an electronic computer connected to an electronic information communication network or the like can be used, and in particular, a mobile phone or a personal digital device. A portable information terminal such as an assistant (PDA) can also be used. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of an electronic information delivery system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an algorithm of an electronic tally program used in the embodiment, FIG. FIGS. 4 to 7 are explanatory diagrams of a case where the present embodiment is applied to the sale of content in the form of electronic information. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The electronic information distribution system of the present embodiment completely protects the copyright by preventing others from stealing when conducting transactions via the Internet communication network. As shown in FIG. 1, the system of the present embodiment, when the electronic information sender 1 sends the electronic information to the receiver 2 via a communication network such as the Internet, reduces the electronic information to two or more. Divide them into so-called electronic tallies and send them separately. At this time, at least one electronic tally is sent to the receiver 2 via the relay 3. The receiver recovers and uses the original information by collecting and integrating all the electronic tallies. Even if a part of the electronic tally leaks in the communication channel, it is safe because the individual electronic tally contains only a part of the original electronic information and cannot be used by the stolen person. .

For the electronic tally, for example, the method disclosed by the applicant of the present application in International Publication No. WO 0 045 358 can be used.

The disclosure method includes an electronic tally generation program and an electronic tally integration program, which generates an electronic tally, sends it to a different route or at a different time, and collects and integrates all the electronic tallies to integrate the original electronic tally. It restores information.

The electronic tally generation program divides the original electronic information into an arbitrary number of electronic information elements, divides the divided electronic information elements into two blocks as appropriate, rearranges them appropriately, and as it is, Create an electronic information block whose contents cannot be estimated. The electronic information block formed in this way is called an electronic tally, and the procedure for forming the electronic tally is called electronic tallying.

The electronic tally integration program restores the collected electronic tally to its original information by reversing the generated procedure.

As shown in FIG. 2, the electronic tally generation program according to the present embodiment converts the remaining electronic information W from the original electronic information W to the remaining electronic information X excluding the trial part A. First, an allocation correspondence table T is created using arguments determined such that random numbers and time stamp values cannot be easily guessed. The allocation correspondence table T contains the number L of the electronic information part X divided into the electronic information elements X j, the number n of the electronic tally Y i to be created n, and the contents of the group Z i of the electronic information elements X j allocated to the electronic tally Y i The specifications required for electronic tallying and restoration, such as, are specified.

The allocation correspondence table T also includes the location information of the sample A. This is because when it is combined with the reserved electronic information part X, it must be backfilled at an appropriate position. Next, the pending electronic information X is divided into the number L of electronic information elements X j determined by the allocation correspondence table T. The data length of the electronic information part X is N bits.

The divided electronic information elements X j are divided into a predetermined number n of electronic information blocks Z i, and rearranged according to the allocation method determined by the correspondence table T.

In addition, the allocation correspondence table T is divided into electronic tally numbers n, and the allocation correspondence table elements T i. For dividing the allocation correspondence table T, the electronic tallying means as described above may be used.

An allocation correspondence table element T i is connected to each of the electronic information blocks Z i formed earlier, and further, header information H i is attached to generate n electronic tally Y i. The electronic tally Y i formed in this way is considered to have security similar to that obtained by setting k = n in the (k, 1, n) threshold method of the known secret sharing scheme. Can be

In the (n, 1, n) threshold method,

1 = n Z (1 + L logn / N)

If one or more electronic tallies required by 欠 are missing, even one bit of the original electronic information X cannot be clarified, and the average time required for the original information X to be completely found even after a 100% attack is information It increases exponentially with the number of bits N contained in, and becomes huge.

As described above, the electronic tally Y i of this embodiment cannot be restored to its original information X even if a part of it is stolen by a third party, so that it is sufficiently secure even on a public communication channel. It is.

In addition, even if the assignment correspondence table is divided into the assignment correspondence table elements T i using electronic tallying means, it is extremely difficult to restore the assignment correspondence table τ unless all the electronic tally Y i are collected. The security of electronic information will be even higher. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the electronic tally restoration program in the present embodiment restores the allocation correspondence table T according to the header information Hi from the collected electronic tally Y i, and obtains the allocation correspondence table. From the electronic information block Z i force in the electronic tally Y i according to T, the original stored electronic information X is restored by reversing the generated procedure.

The original electronic information W can be obtained by combining the restored electronic information part X with the trial electronic information part A distributed earlier.

According to the method of the present embodiment, the original electronic information cannot be restored if there is an abnormality affecting the content of the electronic tally in the middle of the communication path, and the electronic tally is stolen in the communication path. Can recover even part of the original electronic information from some electronic tallies. There is no need to worry about copyright infringement on the contents of electronic information because the contents cannot be known. Also, since there is no problem even if the amount of electronic information allocated to the electronic tally is large, the security of the information can be maintained even if the electronic tally of the person who deposits with the external organization is made sufficiently small. Therefore, the required level of storage capacity and computer performance in external institutions is not so high, so it is economical.

The electronic information delivery system of the present embodiment can be used as a system for selling electronic information such as music, photos, and novels. With this system, electronic information can be distributed only to authorized buyers without infringement of copyright. The distribution center in this embodiment has as many member stores as possible to sell electronic information and configures and operates an electronic information distribution system in which consumers are user members.

The user member registers in the electronic information distribution system managed by the distribution center, and selects and places an order for the electronic information desired by the member store from an electronic information catalog that is released via the Internet communication network. The merchant then retrieves the electronic information from the database and converts it into an electronic tally, generates two electronic tallies, sends the first electronic tally to the distribution center, and combines the second electronic tally with the electronic tally integration key. Send to the member who ordered. The customer who receives the second electronic tally retrieves the first electronic tally from the distribution center and restores and uses the original electronic information based on the integration key.

When the distribution center receives the electronic information receipt notification from the member, it pays the price to the member store on behalf of the member. When the distribution center notifies the merchant that has sold the delivery completion, the merchant may settle itself.

Using such a system, music, movies, games, novels, and other works can be delivered securely, and customers can confirm that they have received the work before paying for it.

FIG. 4 is a database layout diagram showing a database owned by each element in the system, such as a distribution center, a member store, and a user member, when the present embodiment is applied to electronic information content sales.

A member store that sells electronic information contents has a server machine 10, and a user member has a client machine 20. In addition, content sales The distribution center that further secures the copyright of the data and facilitates the distribution has a center machine 30. Note that this distribution center becomes the organizer of the electronic information distribution system in this mode and operates the system.

The server machine 10 of the franchise stores a customer database 11 that stores data on the members who became customers of the store among the user members, a product database 12 that stores electronic information to be sold, An order database 13 is provided to store data related to orders received from customers. It also has an electronic tally generation module 14 consisting of a program for electronically tallying electronic information.

The customer database 11 stores customer IDs, passwords, addresses, names, and the like. The product database 12 stores product codes, product names, prices, and the like, in addition to the contents of the products. Further, the order database 13 stores an order number, a member ID, a total price of goods sold, a billed amount including taxes and fees, a product code, electronic tally data, a tally integration key, and the like.

The client machine 20 of the user member includes a content database 21 for storing the received electronic information and an electronic tally integration module 22 for integrating the electronic tally to restore the original electronic information.

Further, the center machine 30 of the distribution center includes a member store database 31 for storing data about member stores, a member database 32 for storing data about user members, and a tally database 33 for temporarily storing electronic tally. It has a charging database 34 that stores charging information about customers, and a history database 35 that stores history information about each transaction.

The member store database 31 holds information on member stores that sell contents, such as member member store names, member store codes, and server addresses. The member database 32 stores the names, IDs, passwords, e-mail addresses, and the like of the user members who will be content purchasers. The tally database 33 stores, in addition to the electronic tally, the code of the transmitting merchant, the order number, the customer ID of the distribution destination, and the like.

The electronic tally data includes the data length, hash value, source code, destination code, and other product information in addition to the electronic tally itself. The electronic tally data stored in the tally database 33 was delivered when the delivery completion notification was received. Records are deleted. The charging database 34 stores the member ID, the charging date and time, the delivery size, the usage fee, and the like regarding the electronic information to be charged. The history database 35 stores and retains the delivery processing date and time, storage / reception / shipment / reception, details of processing such as abnormal processing, franchise store codes, member IDs, order numbers, and the like.

FIGS. 5 to 7 are drawings explaining the procedure for using the system. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the user registration procedure in the system of FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is the electronic information sales. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the procedure, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the electronic information delivery procedure. ·

When a user becomes a member of this electronic information delivery system or a customer of a member store, a registration procedure following the procedure shown in Fig. 5 is required.

In order to register as a member in the system, download the application form from the web of the distribution center and write the designated member information such as name, address, e-mail address, ID, password, and settlement information such as credit card , Upload to the shipping center.

In addition, the person who intends to register as a member may download the electronic tally integration program from the distribution center and send the application form using the electronic tally. In addition, by distributing the electronic tally generation program to those who wish to register, and tallying and transmitting the membership registration application, it is possible to prevent leakage of privacy-related member information outside the distribution center.

The delivery center checks the credit card, such as the credit card number and the expiration date, based on the member registration information, with an external e-commerce settlement center, such as a credit company, to perform a credit check. to register the authorization to Board members database ₃ 2.

The member who becomes a member of the electronic information delivery system then registers the customer with the merchant that handles the desired product by referring to the merchandise catalog distributed from the distribution center and the merchant. Customer registration is performed by downloading the customer registration application form from the member store's web site, filling out the necessary information, and sending it to the member store server machine. The server machine at the member store uses the member ID to make a member inquiry to the center machine at the distribution center. The distribution center is a member designated with reference to the member database 32. Notify the merchant of the credit status of. If the distribution center does not act for payment, the merchant can refer to the transaction settlement center for credit checking. If the credit status of the applicant is satisfactory, the subsequent electronic transaction is approved and registered in the customer database 11.

When a user member places an order for electronic information from a member store, he follows the procedure shown in Fig. 6.

Members can obtain an order form from the pub of the merchant that sells the product they want. The user member writes the member information such as the member ID and password, the product information specifying the product to be purchased, and the integration key for electronic tally integration specified by the user in the order form, and sends it to the member store.

The merchant confirms that the orderer has been registered in the customer database 11, stores the information of the order in the relevant order database 3, and queries the member information in the order to the distribution center to check the member database. 3 Check the information recorded in 2 to confirm that you are a regular member and that there is no problem with your credit status. The credit check may be conducted by the merchant directly referring to the Commerce Settlement Center. If there is no problem with the contents of the order, a notice of order clarifying that the order has been received is sent to the client machine 20 of the member. The order notification includes information such as the order number, product name, and billing amount.

After confirming that the order can be accepted, the procedure moves to delivering the electronic information of the order.

The delivery of goods is performed according to the procedure shown in Fig. 7.

When the merchant enters the order processing routine, it reads the electronic information received from the product database 12 and activates the electronic tally generation program to generate the first electronic tally A and the second electronic tally B.

The first electronic tally A is transmitted from the memory to the center machine 30 of the distribution center. The first electronic tally A is accompanied by a header that contains necessary information such as merchandise store code, product code, ID of the purchased member, and product information such as price.

In addition, the second electronic tally B is stored in the tally file in the order database 13 and then transmitted by e-mail to the purchased member. To include necessary information in 2nd electronic tally B Attach a rudder. The information to be sent together includes a verification code for obtaining the remaining first electronic tally A and an integrated code for integrating the two electronic tallies. The electronic tally stored in the tally file is preferably left as an original until payment is completed.

In addition, members can order multiple products at one time, but in such a case, it is preferable to generate and transmit the electronic tally for each product.

Upon receiving the first electronic tally, the center machine 30 of the delivery center confirms that the member is a member of the system managed by the orderer and stores it in the tally database 33. In addition, the client confirms that the client is a member store, and records the information of the deposited electronic tally and the items treated for the electronic tally in the history database 35.

The first electronic tally A is stored in the tally database 33 until a transmission request is received from the member. '

The user member who has purchased the product stores the second electronic tally B received from the member store server machine 10 in the tally file of the client machine 20. If the electronic tally cannot be decompressed without the integrated key, the identity can be verified at the same time.

The user member further obtains the first electronic tally A from the center machine 30 by attaching a collation code to the delivery center and requesting the same, and restores the original electronic information by the electronic tally integration program, and the content database 21 To be stored. 'It is preferable to perform the integration processing as soon as the first electronic tally A is received, because the chance of information leakage or plagiarism decreases.

When the electronic information can be restored, a receipt notification is immediately sent to the center machine 30 of the distribution center.

Upon receiving the receipt notification, the delivery center deletes the first electronic tally A stored in the tally database 33 of the center machine 30 and performs a procedure for withdrawing the billed amount from an external financial institution. At the same time, it sends an acknowledgment to the server machine 10 of the member store to inform that the member has successfully received the goods.

The server machine 10 that has received the receipt notification performs the settlement procedure according to the agreement with the distribution center and deletes the unnecessary second electronic tally B. If the merchants settle their payments, they will receive a receipt The server machine 10 directly debits money from an external financial institution.

If the original electronic information cannot be restored by the integration process, the transmission of the first electronic tally may be repeated again up to a predetermined number of times.

When the restoration of the electronic information fails, the member's client machine 20 sends an abnormality notification to the center machine 30. Upon receipt of the notification, the center machine 30 records the abnormality information in the history database 35, and the first The electronic tally A is deleted from the database, and an abnormality notification is transmitted to the server machine 10 of the member store. The server machine 10 cancels the payment and deletes the second electronic tally B.

By using an electronic information delivery system as described in detail above, the original work is transmitted over multiple channels at different times and at different times, each of which cannot be recovered alone. Can prevent others without theft from infringing copyright.

In the past, since payments were made unilaterally based on the fact that the store sent information, even if the product desired by the user did not arrive in perfect form, the fee was deducted and complained. However, if this system is used, there will be no charge withdrawal unless the electronic information is restored, so user dissatisfaction can be resolved.

Furthermore, if the distribution center acts as a payment agent, it is only necessary to disclose the credit information, etc. that should be prevented from leaking as much as possible to only the distribution center without disclosing it to each store, so that users can use it with peace of mind. it can. Also, each member store does not need to settle payments for each customer, so it is sufficient to settle payments with the distribution center.

In particular, if the present applicant generates and uses the electronic tally by the method already disclosed in International Patent Publication WO 00/45358, it is possible to allocate the electronic tally to the first electronic tally. Even if the amount of information is extremely small, it prevents information leakage and makes it difficult for anyone other than the authorized user to use it, so not only can secure transmission be performed, but also the load on the distribution center can be greatly reduced, and stores participating in the system Even if the number is large, small equipment is sufficient.

In the above embodiment, the electronic information is divided into two electronic tallies in order to avoid confusion, but it is needless to say that the electronic information may be transmitted after being divided into three or more electronic tallies. Nare, Industrial applicability

As described above in detail, according to the electronic information distribution system of the present invention, when a work such as a movie or music is traded as a product in the form of electronic information, it is possible to effectively prevent copyright infringement. Payment can be made after confirming that the buyer has received the desired product.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. An electronic information distribution system that ensures security when sending electronic information from a sender's server machine to a receiver's client machine via a relay agency, and the sender's server machine generates an electronic tally. Means for dividing the electronic information into first tally information and second tally information by the electronic tally generating means, and transmitting the first tally information to a center machine of the relay facility through a first communication path. The tally information is sent to the recipient's client machine via the second communication path, and the relay machine's center machine stores the first tally information in a storage device and receives the tally information when requested by the recipient. When sending the first tally information, and the receiving client machine has electronic tally integration means to receive the second tally information and use the electronic information, An electronic information delivery system characterized by requesting and obtaining said first tally information from said relay organization and integrating and restoring said first and second tally information by said electronic tally integrating means.

2. The electronic tally generating means divides the electronic information into a plurality of electronic information elements and distributes the divided electronic information elements to a first electronic information block and a second electronic information block, and The order of the electronic information elements is changed in the block, and restoration information recording the procedure of division and order change is generated, and all or one of the divided information is included in the electronic information block. Forming first and second electronic tallies, and wherein the electronic tally integrating means is configured to collect information blocks of the first and second electronic tallies on the basis of the restoration information. 2. The electronic information distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the electronic information is restored.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first electronic tally deposited with the relay agency is deleted from a storage device after the receipt of the recipient is confirmed.

Electronic information delivery system described in item 2.

4. The claim according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the relay organization receives the notice of receipt of the first tally information from the receiver, and then performs the settlement processing of the cost. Electronic information delivery: