Data processing: financial – business practice – management – or co – Automated electrical financial or business practice or... – Electronic shopping
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-04
2001-07-17
Trammell, James P. (Department: 2162)
Data processing: financial, business practice, management, or co
Automated electrical financial or business practice or...
Electronic shopping
C705S014270, C705S020000, C705S026640, C705S027200, C705S044000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06263318
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a contents sales method, a cyber mall system using such a method, and a storage medium in which its contents sales program has been stored.
With a spread of the Internet, a cyber mall based on the World-Wide Web (WWW) becomes possible to be established. In the cyber mall, in addition to articles, digital contents are also sold at present. The digital contents indicate a kind of contents (work) such as image file, audio file, software, or Web page of the WWW which can be delivered via a network.
There are two kinds of purchasing methods of the digital contents. The first method is a method of delivering a copy of purchased digital contents to a computer of a customer. According to the purchasing method, since the digital contents are delivered via the network, there is a possibility that the delivery fails. When the delivery of the digital contents fails, usually, the customer needs to re-execute the purchasing process. In the case where the purchase price has been already paid, however, it is necessary to enable the purchasing process to be re-executed without paying the purchase price again.
For example, in ASCII Digital Novels from which a novel can be purchased in a document file on a chapter unit basis, when a download of the document file fails, if the customer re-purchases it within 72 hours after the purchase, the customer is not billed again.
Similarly, in “gu-mantanya” from which images can be purchased on a file unit basis, when the download of an image file fails, if the customer re-purchases it within 72 hours after the purchase, the customer is not billed again. The re-purchase can be executed up to three times only.
In “buydirect.com” from which software can be purchased on-line, when the download of software fails, if the customer re-purchases it within 30 days after the purchase, the customer is not billed again. Basically, the re-purchase can be executed up to three times only. When the re-purchase fails three times, if the customer informs customer service of such a fact, the number of times downloading can be made is increased.
According to the second method, the customer views the purchased digital contents via a WWW browser. According to such a purchasing method, when an access to a WWW page displaying the digital contents fails, the digital contents cannot be viewed. If the digital contents are, however, those of a regular subscription type like a subscription of a news service, there is no additional charge even if the contents are viewed again.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the conventional techniques, in a procedure for re-purchasing digital contents when the delivery of the digital contents fails, the number of times the re-delivery can be executed and a period during which the re-purchase can be performed are limited, which creates problems for the customer.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a cyber mall system in which even if a delivery of purchased digital contents fails, at the time of re-purchase of the digital contents, the digital contents are delivered again only by selecting the digital contents in which the re-delivery is desired without re-paying a goods price and re-inputting customer information.
In order to solve the above problems, first, using conditions of digital contents are provided. The using conditions of the digital contents denote restricting conditions of an access to the digital contents main body and matters that require attention upon access.
As restricting conditions of access to the digital contents, there are an access control on a cyber mall server side and a physical act restriction on a cyber mall client side. For example, in the access control on the cyber mall server side, the period and number of times of accesses to the purchased digital contents are limited. As a physical act restriction on the cyber mall client side, there is an act which can be performed to the digital contents, for example, an act restriction which can be forcedly controlled on the cyber mall client side for printing and copying.
As matters that require attention upon access to the digital contents, there is a logical act control restriction on the cyber mall client side. The logical act control restriction on the cyber mall client side includes matters that require attention regarding the use of the digital contents, for example, an act restriction for a secondary use or a commercial use which cannot be controlled on the cyber mall client side and can be executed only by the law (that is, gentleman's agreement).
A value that the customer pays when the customer purchases the digital contents is associated with the digital contents. As a value, there are not only payment of a goods price of the digital contents but also an input of customer information and an approval to a contract regarding the use of the digital contents. For example, as customer information, there are a name and an electronic mail address as personal information of the customer. The contract regarding the use of the digital contents is an agreement by which the customer agrees to follow a copyright of the digital contents and the using conditions of the digital contents.
The using conditions and value are set together with goods attributes when a shop manager of a cyber shop defines the digital contents as goods. By registering different using conditions and different values for certain digital contents, one digital contents can be provided as a plurality of goods.
Further, when the cyber mall server sells the digital contents, in addition to information of the goods to be sold and information of the customer, a digital contents customer generates and accumulates personal using conditions as a certificate showing that the digital contents customer purchased the digital contents on the basis of information in which variable portions of the using conditions and value are replaced to definite values.
After the personal using conditions were generated, the cyber mall server delivers a copy of the sold digital contents to the cyber mall client. When a physical act restriction on the cyber mall client side is defined in the digital contents, the physical act restriction is built in the digital contents and resultant digital contents are delivered.
All of the using conditions of the digital contents and the personal using conditions are managed on the cyber mall server side.
When the delivery of the digital contents fails, the digital contents customer re-purchases the digital contents. The cyber mall server retrieves the personal using conditions generated for the digital contents which the digital contents customer desires to re-purchase. When the digital contents customer has valid personal using conditions of the digital contents to be re-purchased, the cyber mall server re-delivers a copy of the digital contents to the cyber mall client without re-collecting the value of the digital contents.
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Kimura Tomoko
Koike Hiroshi
Namioka Miyoko
Okayama Nobuya
Hitachi , Ltd.
Mattingly Stanger & Malur, P.C.
Tesfamariam Mussie
Trammell James P.
LandOfFree
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