JP5142893B2 - Playback apparatus and playback method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a system for viewing content distributed via a communication medium such as a broadcast wave or a network, and a system for recording the content and playing back the recorded content. In particular, the present invention relates to a method for preventing a user from overlooking content due to a viewing expiration.

  Conventionally, when recording content that has a viewing time limit on a recording / playback device, the recorded content can be viewed by forgetting to watch the program within the viewing time limit or forgetting that the user has recorded the video itself. There was a case of failing. In addition, the user cannot know that the viewing deadline is approaching, and even if there is unviewed content that will soon expire, the user will not notice the presence and miss the content. was there.

  In order to solve this problem, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-199109, when there is content that has passed a predetermined time until the viewing time limit expires, the user uses a message display or the like to notify the user that the viewing time has expired. Prevents you from missing content.

JP 2003-199209 A

  However, in the above Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-199090, when there is content whose viewing time limit expires within a predetermined time, regardless of whether the user has already viewed the content, that is, unviewed content and viewed content In addition, since the user is notified without distinguishing the content being viewed, there is a problem that it is troublesome for the user in terms of message frequency.

  Further, regarding content whose viewing time limit expires within a predetermined time, there is a problem in terms of the necessity of presenting a message to the user because it does not consider the state of the content such as whether the content is paid or free.

  In addition, there is a probability that the user misses content with a viewing deadline, such as when trying to acquire a new content with a viewing deadline, even though he has content whose viewing deadline expires within a predetermined time. There was no consideration for alerting users under increasing conditions.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention suppresses the number of message presentations by alerting the user with a message or the like when there is content that has already been purchased and the viewing deadline has not been set. On the other hand, it is possible to prevent the user from overlooking content with a viewing time limit. It is another object of the present invention to prevent the user from purchasing too much content without noticing if the message is displayed when the user tries to purchase new content.

  In addition, if there is a purchased viewing deadline and there is a charged content, a message is displayed to the user so that the user can view the content with a viewing deadline while suppressing the number of message presentations. It is possible to prevent oversight. It is another object of the present invention to prevent the user from purchasing too much content without noticing if the message is displayed when the user tries to purchase new content.

In order to achieve the above object, for example, it may be configured as described in the claims.

  When the user intends to purchase new content by the playback apparatus of the present invention, if there is content for which a viewing deadline is set and the user has not finished viewing, the presence of the content is presented to the user. By alerting the user, it is possible to prevent oversight of the content due to expiration of the viewing period and to suppress excessive content purchase.

  In addition, when the user intends to purchase new content by the playback device of the present invention, if there is content for which a viewing time limit is set and there is a fee, by presenting the presence of the content to the user, It is possible to effectively prevent the content from being overlooked due to expiration of the viewing time while suppressing the display frequency of the message.

<First embodiment>
A first embodiment of a content purchase confirmation method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Configuration of recording / reproducing apparatus>
First, the configuration of the recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the recording / reproducing apparatus 100. The recording / reproducing apparatus 100 can receive and reproduce content distributed via a communication medium such as a broadcast wave or a network. Further, content distributed via a communication medium such as a broadcast wave or a network can be recorded in a storage device, and the content recorded by a user operation can be reproduced. Hereinafter, the function of each part will be described with reference to FIG.

  The communication control unit 101 receives broadcast wave content via an antenna, for example, or receives content distributed from a content server via a network (for example, a wide area network such as the Internet). Further, the communication control unit 101 receives a license necessary for reproducing the received content. Here, the license may be distributed by broadcast waves, or may be acquired from a license server prepared by a content distribution company, for example. The license information to be acquired includes a content viewing time limit, and further includes a decryption key for decrypting the content if the content is encrypted.

  The purchase management unit 102 performs purchase management of content received via the communication control unit 101. The content purchase process is, for example, a process in which a content service provider purchases paid content for which the amount has been set for viewing by the user. Information regarding the purchased content is transferred from the purchase management unit 102 to the content state management unit 103. Be notified. The information to be managed includes, for example, a content title, a content purchase status, and a charge / free content distinction.

  The content status management unit 103 receives information related to content purchase from the purchase management unit 102, information related to playback such as playback and stoppage of content from the playback control unit 106, and information related to content recorded in the storage device 111. Thus, information on the remaining viewing period of the content is collected from the viewing time limit detection unit 104, and information on each content is integratedly managed based on the collected information.

  In addition, the content state management unit 103 performs a playback control unit in response to a user input operation such as playback, stop, and pause from the input unit 109 for the content being played output to the display device 108. 106 is controlled.

  The recording control unit 110 records the content received by the communication control unit 101 and the license in the storage device 111 in association with each other. When recording content, the content status management unit 103 is notified of information such as the title and file name of the content to be recorded and the viewing time limit described in the license.

  The storage device 111 is a storage medium such as a hard disk drive, and stores content data, license data, a control program, and the like.

  The content state management unit 103 manages information on the content recorded in the storage device 111 and presents the information to the user as necessary. This information is updated when the content is newly purchased, when the content is recorded in the storage device, or when the unviewed content is reproduced.

  The viewing time limit detection unit 104 acquires the viewing time limit of each content from the content state management unit 103, further acquires the current time from the time management unit 105, calculates the remaining time from the current time until the viewing time limit expires, Whether or not each content expires within a predetermined time is determined based on whether or not the remaining time is less than the predetermined time set in the viewing detection unit. Note that a fixed value (for example, one day) held by the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 may be used as the predetermined time until the viewing expiration date, or the value set by the user is held by the viewing expiration detection unit. The value may be used.

  The playback control unit 106 instructs the recording control unit 110 to read the content from the storage device 111 and a license corresponding to the content, and outputs a video obtained by decoding the read content to the display device. In addition, reproduction control is performed when content received from a communication medium such as a broadcast wave or a network is reproduced while being received.

  The OSD control unit 107 displays a menu, a message screen, a user operation screen such as a content list, and a content purchase selection screen. Further, the OSD control unit 107 performs screen control processing according to the input from the input unit 109 with respect to the displayed user operation screen.

  In the content purchase selection screen, when it is detected that the user desires to purchase the content by selecting the specific content, the information managed by the content state management unit 103 is referred to, and if necessary, the user A warning message is generated and output to the display device.

  The display device 108 displays a video in which the video signal received from the OSD control unit 107 is superimposed on the video signal received from the playback control unit 106.

  The input unit 109 is a remote controller or a keyboard that communicates with the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 wirelessly or by wire, and is used by the user to select a desired operation on the user operation screen.

<Information handled by the content status management unit>
Next, information handled by the content state management unit 103 will be described.

  FIG. 2 is an example of content information held by the content state management unit 103.

  For each content that has already been purchased, “content name”, “pay / free”, “viewing deadline”, “viewing status”, and “content entity” are stored as a management table. Information regarding these contents held in the management table is updated at a timing when the state of the content changes, such as content purchase, content reproduction, and content recording to the storage device. “Content name” is a title of the content. “Paid / free” indicates whether the content is paid content or free content. “Viewing time limit” represents an expiration date during which the content can be viewed, and after this time limit, the user cannot view the content.

  “Viewing status” indicates whether the user has already watched the content, or has not watched the content, or has played a part of the content but has not finished playing the entire content. is there. Here, unviewed content means content that has never been reproduced since the user purchased or recorded the content in the storage device. In addition, the definition during viewing may not be that the reproduction of the entire content has been completed. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, a specific specified value Lo is provided for the content length, and the user sets the specified value Lo. When viewing is stopped beyond the limit, even if the entire content is not reproduced, it may be treated as viewed. In the case of FIG. 8, (a) is treated as viewed, and (b) is treated as being viewed because the position where the user has stopped reproducing the content has not reached the specified value Lo.

  When the user has finished viewing the content, that is, when the content has been viewed, information regarding the content is deleted from the management table. Note that information regarding viewed content may also be managed in the management table.

  “Content entity” indicates whether or not the actual content is in the recording / reproducing apparatus 100. For example, a content on a server is viewed each time a content is viewed, such as a video on demand (VOD) service. When receiving and reproducing, the content entity is “none”. In addition, in the case of a service that is viewed after recording the content itself in the storage device 111 of the recording / playback device, generally called a download service, the substance of the content recorded in the storage device 111 is changed. For example, a file name or the like can be used.

<Flow of Confirmation Message Display Processing in First Embodiment>
Next, the flow of processing when displaying a confirmation message to the user at the time of content purchase will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of the confirmation message display process.

  First, step S31 is an operation for purchasing content from a content sales site provided by a service provider or the like, and information for content purchase received by the communication control unit 101 is transmitted via the content state management unit 103. The purchase management unit 102 receives it. The OSD control unit 108 receives content information that can be purchased from the purchase management unit 102 and displays a content selection screen on the display device 108.

  FIG. 6 is an example of a display screen for selecting purchase contents to be displayed here. Here, “content name” and “paid / free” are distinguished, and “viewing period” representing a period during which viewing is possible is displayed. ing. Note that the viewing period can be considered as a rentable period in a so-called rental video service. The user uses the input unit 109 to select content to be purchased. The screen displayed here may be the screen provided by the content sales site as it is, or only the information is received from the content sales site, and the display screen is displayed in the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 based on the information. You may make it.

  When the user selects content desired to be purchased, the process proceeds from step S31 to step S32, and the content state management unit 103 confirms whether or not the content desired to be purchased by the user has a viewing period. In the example of FIG. 6, the viewing period “7 nights 8 days” is set for the content name “XXX”, and there is a viewing period. The content name “ZZZ” is the viewing period “none”.

  When the user selects content with no viewing period, there is little need to notify the user of a confirmation message in the present invention, and the process proceeds to step S38 without performing subsequent processing.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S32 that there is a viewing period, the process proceeds to step S33, and the content management table held by the content state management unit 103 is referred to.

  In step S34, based on the content management table information, it is confirmed whether or not content with a viewing time limit exists in the already purchased content. As a result, if there is content with a viewing time limit, the process proceeds to step S35, and the viewing state of the content detected in step S34 is confirmed. If there is no content with a viewing time limit, there is no need to notify the user of a confirmation message in the present invention, and the subsequent confirmation process is not performed, and the process proceeds from step S34 to step S38.

  If it is determined in step S35 that the content viewing state is “viewing” or “unviewed”, the process proceeds to step S36. If the content viewing state is “viewed”, since there is little need to notify the user of a message prompting viewing even if the content has a viewing time limit, the process immediately proceeds to the purchase process in step S38.

  In the present embodiment, since “viewed” does not exist in the content management table held by the content state management unit 103, the process always moves from step S35 to step S36. When management is performed using the management table, the determination in step S35 is required. Further, in the determination in step S35, the control may be shifted to step S36 only when there is content whose viewing state is “unviewed” or only when there is content whose viewing state is “viewing”. .

  In step S36, the OSD control unit 107 acquires content information from the content state management unit 103, and displays a confirmation message screen for the user. This confirmation is performed when there is already purchased content with a viewing time limit, and the viewing state of the content is “viewing” or “unviewed”. That is, the user is alerted because there is a possibility that the user may miss the already purchased content due to expiration of the viewing time limit.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of the confirmation message displayed here.

  A display screen 700 in FIG. 7 is a confirmation message screen. Based on the content information acquired from the content state management unit 103, for example, a thumbnail image 701 of content whose viewing state is “viewing” or “unviewed”. Display title, expiration date, etc. Note that the display screen 700 is an example, and confirmation of the purchase intention to the user is not limited to the display message.

  Step S37 is a process of determining whether or not the user continues the purchase process. In the confirmation message screen 700, when the user selects “Purchase” 702 using the input unit 109, the process proceeds to step S38, and the purchase management unit 102 starts a new content purchase process. On the confirmation message screen 700, when the user selects “stop purchase” 703, the process is terminated assuming that the purchase process is not performed.

  Step S39 is processing in which the content state management unit 103 updates information in the content management table, and registers information related to newly purchased content in the management table as purchased content.

<Flow of content management information update processing>
Next, the flow of processing for updating information in the content management table held by the content state management unit 103 will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of content management table update processing during content playback.

  In step S41, when the user selects content that the user wants to view from the already purchased content, the content status management unit 103 identifies where the content entity is based on the information stored in the content management table. . If the content exists in the storage device 111, in step S42, the recording control unit 110 reads out the corresponding content from the storage device 111, and the playback control unit 106 performs playback of the content on the display device. When the content entity does not exist in the storage device 111, the content is received from the content state management unit 103 via the communication control unit 101 via the broadcast wave or the network, and the reproduction control unit 106 receives the received content. Play back.

  Step S43 is processing for detecting that the reproduction of the content has stopped. Here, the content is stopped when the content has been played back to the end and stopped, or when the user stops playback or pauses using the input means 109 in the middle of the content. Is included. When the content stops, the process proceeds to step S45.

  Step S45 is processing for determining whether or not the content has been reproduced to the end. If the content has been reproduced to the end, the process proceeds to step S48.

  In step S48, the content state management unit 103 deletes the information related to the corresponding content that has been reproduced from the content management table. Although the content information is deleted here, the content information may not be deleted, and the viewing status of the corresponding content in the content management table may be “viewed”.

  If it is determined in step S45 that the content has not been played to the end, the process proceeds to step S46, and the viewing time limit detection unit 104 determines the viewing time limit.

  If it is determined in step S46 that the viewing deadline has already passed, it is determined that reproduction of the corresponding content cannot be performed in the future, and the process proceeds to step S48 to perform the same processing as when the content is reproduced to the end. carry out. Note that the handling of the viewing deadline is not limited to this. For example, when the service provider has passed the viewing deadline, it can continue to play if the viewing status is “viewing”. If it is implemented, step S48 need not be performed.

  If it is determined in step S46 that the viewing time limit of the content being played still remains, the process proceeds to step S47 and the management table is updated.

  In step S47, the content state management unit 103 updates the viewing status of the corresponding content in the content management table. If the viewing status before playback is “not viewing”, the viewing status is updated to “viewing”, and if the viewing status before playback is “viewing”, the viewing status is “viewing”. Hold as is.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, when a user tries to purchase a new content, a message is sent to the user that there is content that has already been purchased and has not been viewed. In this way, it is possible to prevent the user from overlooking content with a viewing deadline, and to prevent the user from purchasing too much content without noticing.

  Further, for example, by determining whether or not there are N or more contents with a viewing time limit in the determination process in step S34, only when there are a plurality of contents that have already been purchased and have not been viewed. A message can be displayed to the user. Thereby, while suppressing the frequency of the confirmation message at the time of purchase, it is possible to prevent oversight of content that has a viewing time limit for the user and excessive purchase.

<Second embodiment>
Next, a second embodiment of the confirmation message display method at the time of content purchase according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  The functional configuration of the recording / reproducing apparatus is represented by the recording / reproducing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. Further, the information managed by the content state management unit 103 is the same as that in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

<Flow of Confirmation Message Display Processing in Second Embodiment>
Next, the flow of the confirmation message display process for the user at the time of content purchase in the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of confirmation message display processing in this embodiment. In this flowchart, the same processes as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 3, and description thereof is omitted here.

  In step S31, when the user selects content desired to be purchased, the process proceeds to step S51.

  Step S51 is processing for determining whether the content desired to be purchased selected by the user is charged or free. In the example of FIG. 6, the content names “XXX”, “YYY”, and “ZZZ” are charged, and the content “aaa” is free content.

  If the content selected by the user is free, it is determined that there is no need to notify the user of the confirmation message in the present invention, and the process proceeds to step S38 without performing the subsequent processing.

  If the user wishes to purchase paid content, the process proceeds from step S51 to step S33, and the content management table held by the content state management unit 103 is referred to.

  In the present embodiment, the process of performing step S51 is shown instead of step S32 in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 3, but in this embodiment as well, the process of step S32 is similar to the first embodiment. Of course, the determination, that is, whether or not the content desired to be purchased selected by the user has a viewing period may be confirmed. In addition, the determination of both step S32 and step S51 is performed, and a confirmation message for the user at the time of content purchase is displayed only when the content desired to be purchased by the user has a viewing period and the content is charged. It is also possible to do so.

  Step S52 is processing for confirming whether or not the content with a viewing time limit that has already been purchased is paid content based on the content management table information. When content with a viewing deadline is charged, it is determined that it is highly necessary to present a confirmation message to the user according to the present invention. When the content has a viewing deadline but is free, the content is missed. Even if this is the case, it is considered that there is little influence on the user, so the process proceeds to the purchase process in step S38 without notifying the user of the confirmation message in the present invention.

  Note that the process of displaying a confirmation message only for paid content as shown in step S51 and step S52 may be selected and set by the user as desired. For example, a screen similar to 700 is displayed on the display device 108, and the user uses the input unit 109 to display a message only for paid content or to display a message for both paid and free content. You may make it select according to a user's hope beforehand.

  In step S53, the viewing time limit detection unit 104 extracts the viewing time limit T1 from the content management information extracted in step S33.

  In step S54, the current time T2 is acquired from the time management unit 105.

  In step S55, the remaining time (T1-T2) from the current time until the viewing deadline expires is calculated, and when the calculated result is shorter than the predetermined time T0 held by the viewing deadline detection unit 104, Since there is a possibility that the user may miss this content, the process proceeds to step S36 in order to display a message for confirming whether or not to purchase new content to the user. If a period longer than the predetermined time is left before the viewing time limit expires, the process proceeds to step S38 without displaying a message.

  Note that the predetermined time T0 held by the viewing time limit detection unit 104 may be a predetermined fixed value or may be set by the user as desired.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, when a user tries to purchase a new content, the viewing of the purchased content is not finished and the viewing time limit of the content is approaching. In this case, by presenting a confirmation message to that effect to the user, it is possible to prevent the user from overlooking content that has already been viewed and that the user has purchased too much without noticing. Can be prevented.

  Further, the purchase confirmation message for the user may be displayed only when the viewing has not ended and there are a plurality of contents whose viewing deadlines are approaching. For example, the determination in step S55 is performed for all contents with a viewing time limit, and if there are a plurality of contents corresponding to T1-T2 <T0, the process proceeds from step S55 to step S36. As a result, it is possible to display a confirmation message at the time of purchase only when the user is more likely to miss content with a viewing deadline, and to prevent the user from overlooking content with a viewing deadline and excessive purchase. Suppression can be performed.

Further, by displaying the confirmation message in the present invention only for the paid content, it is possible to prevent the user from overlooking the purchased content with the viewing time limit, and at the same time, the user suffers by suppressing the purchase of the paid content. Damage can be reduced.
The disclosure of the embodiment of the present invention includes the following examples.
A content acquisition means for purchasing content from outside and acquiring the purchased content in a playback device that acquires and plays back the content that is distributed via a broadcast communication medium such as a broadcast wave or a network; A content reproduction unit that reproduces content acquired by the content acquisition unit, and a content state in which information on the viewing deadline and incomplete viewing of the content acquired by the content acquisition unit is collected and recorded in the management table for management Management means and message output means for presenting information to the user, and the content status management means outputs the message when there is content for which a viewing deadline is set and viewing is not completed. The means is made to present the existence of the content to the user.
The content acquisition unit further includes a recording unit that records the content acquired by the content acquisition unit on the recording medium. Play back the content.
Further, the content state management means causes the user to present the existence of the content when the content acquisition means tries to purchase new content.
In particular, the content state management means may cause the message output means to present the existence of the content to the user when the content to be purchased by the content acquisition means has a viewing time limit.
Further, the content status management means may cause the message output means to present the existence of the content to the user when the content to be purchased by the content acquisition means is charged.
Further, the content state management means may cause the message output means to present the existence of the content to the user when there is a plurality of contents for which the viewing deadline is set and the viewing is not completed. .
Also, a content acquisition means for purchasing content from outside and acquiring the purchased content in a playback device that acquires and plays back the content set via a broadcast communication medium such as a broadcast wave or a network. And content reproduction means for reproducing the content acquired by the content acquisition means, information regarding the viewing deadline and pay / free of the content acquired by the content acquisition means, and recording and managing the information in a management table Content status management means and message output means for presenting information to the user, and the content status management means, when there is content for which a viewing deadline is set and there is a charge, the message output means Then, the presence of the content is presented to the user.
The content acquisition unit further includes a recording unit that records the content acquired by the content acquisition unit on the recording medium. Play back the content.
Further, the content state management means causes the user to present the existence of the content when the content acquisition means tries to purchase new content.
In particular, the content state management means may cause the message output means to present the existence of the content to the user when the content to be purchased by the content acquisition means has a viewing time limit.
Further, the content status management means may cause the message output means to present the existence of the content to the user when the content to be purchased by the content acquisition means is charged.
Further, the content status management means may cause the message output means to present the existence of the content to the user when a viewing time limit is set and there are a plurality of pay contents.

It is a functional block diagram of the recording / reproducing apparatus which concerns on invention. It is an example of 1st content management information. It is a flowchart of a 1st confirmation message display process. It is a flowchart of a content management information update process. It is a flowchart of a 2nd confirmation message display process. It is a display example of a content purchase screen. It is an example of a display of a 1st confirmation message screen. It is an example of discriminating whether or not content is being viewed.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Recording / reproducing apparatus 101 Communication control part 102 Purchase management part 103 Content state management part 104 Viewing time limit detection part 105 Time management part 106 Playback control part 107 OSD control part 108 Display apparatus 109 Input means 110 Recording control part 111 Storage apparatus 600 Content purchase Screen display example 700 First confirmation message screen display example 701 Viewing unfinished content in the first screen display example

Claims (12)

In a playback device that acquires and plays back content,
Content acquisition means for purchasing content from outside and acquiring the purchased content;
Content reproduction means for reproducing the content acquired by the content acquisition means;
Content state management means for collecting information related to the viewing deadline and incomplete viewing of the content acquired by the content acquisition means, and recording and managing the information in a management table;
Message output means for presenting information to the user,
The content state management means includes
When there is content for which a viewing time limit has been set and viewing has not been completed, when trying to purchase new content with the content acquisition means, the message output means is made to present the existence of the content to the user A reproducing apparatus characterized by that. A recording unit for recording the content acquired by the content acquisition unit on a recording medium;
2. The playback apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the content playback unit plays back the content acquired by the content acquisition unit as it is, or plays back the content once recorded on the recording medium.   3. The content status management means, when the content to be purchased by the content acquisition means has a viewing deadline, causes the message output means to present the existence of the content to the user. The playback device described in 1.   4. The content status management unit causes the message output unit to present the existence of the content to the user when the content to be purchased by the content acquisition unit is charged. The playback device according to any one of the above.   The content status management means causes the message output means to present the existence of the content to the user when there is a plurality of contents for which the viewing deadline is set and the viewing is not completed. The playback device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. In a playback device that acquires and plays back content,
Content acquisition means for purchasing content from outside and acquiring the purchased content;
Content reproduction means for reproducing the content acquired by the content acquisition means;
Content state management means for collecting information related to the viewing time limit and charge / free of content acquired by the content acquisition means, and recording and managing the information in a management table;
Message output means for presenting information to the user,
The content status management means outputs the message when the content acquisition means tries to purchase new content when there is content for which a viewing deadline has been set and the viewing has not been completed and there is a paid content. A playback apparatus characterized by causing a means to present the existence of the content to a user. A recording unit for recording the content acquired by the content acquisition unit on a recording medium;
7. The playback apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the content playback unit plays back the content acquired by the content acquisition unit as it is, or plays back the content once recorded on the recording medium. The content state management unit, when the content to be purchased by the content acquisition unit has viewing time limit, the message output means, according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that to present the existence of the content to the user The playback device described in 1. 9. The content status management unit, when the content to be purchased by the content acquisition unit is charged, causes the message output unit to present the existence of the content to the user . The playback device according to any one of the above. The content state management means, viewing time limit is set, and, when the content is pay there are multiple, to the message output unit, according to claim 6 to 9, characterized in that to present the existence of the content to the user The reproducing | regenerating apparatus as described in any one of . In a playback method in a playback device that acquires and plays back content,
A content acquisition step in content acquisition means for purchasing content from outside and acquiring the purchased content;
A content playback step in content playback means for playing back the content acquired in the content acquisition step;
A content status management step in content status management means for collecting information on the viewing deadline and viewing incompletion of the content acquired in the content acquisition step, and recording and managing the information in a management table;
A message output step in message output means for presenting information to the user,
In the content state management step,
When there is content for which a viewing time limit has been set and viewing has not been completed, when trying to purchase new content with the content acquisition means, the message output means is made to present the existence of the content to the user A reproduction method characterized by the above. In a playback method in a playback device that acquires and plays back content,
A content acquisition step in content acquisition means for purchasing content from outside and acquiring the purchased content;
A content reproduction step in a content reproduction unit for reproducing the content acquired by the content acquisition unit;
A content status management step in the content status management means for collecting information related to the viewing time limit and pay / free of content acquired by the content acquisition means, and recording and managing the information in a management table;
A message output step in message output means for presenting information to the user,
In the content state management step,
When there is content for which a viewing deadline has been set and viewing has not been completed and there is a fee-paying content, when the content acquisition unit attempts to purchase new content, the message output unit includes the content. A playback method characterized by causing a user to present

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