JPH1031587A - Data terminal device and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Objective] To realize a data terminal device that operates in compliance with the right to use software distributed via a network. SOLUTION: The data is encrypted with a user's public key, and data digitally signed by a software developer himself is recorded as data for software use right on a movable medium. The data is read to check the usage right, and the operation is changed according to the check result.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a data terminal device such as a personal computer operating by accessing a public network such as the Internet, and a computer program executed by the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional method for obtaining personal computer software will be described. There are roughly two ways to obtain this. The first method is a method in which a user goes to a personal computer shop and purchases software packaged at a store, and the second method is a method of downloading and obtaining software via a network. Downloading means copying software by data communication from a host computer connected to the network to a personal computer or the like.

The software package purchased by the first method includes: 1) a recording medium on which an executable program of the software is recorded, usually a floppy disk or CD-ROM; 2) an instruction manual; 3) Serial number (S
N), 4) Software use license agreement etc. are packed. A license agreement between a software developer and a user is usually established by opening the recording medium package. In order to use the purchased software, the software executable program must be copied to a recording device such as a hard disk of the personal computer. This operation is generally called an installation operation, and the method of the installation operation differs depending on software. Some programs simply need to copy the program recorded on the recording medium. Others run a special program (installation program) to copy the program, and then enter the serial number to get a special price for each user. Sometimes the program is copied to the hard disk. Alternatively, there is an installation program that performs an operation such as writing data indicating that installation has been performed on a recording medium at the time of installation. The input of the serial number or the rewriting of the recording medium is for preventing unauthorized copying.

In the second acquisition method, there is no recording medium. Instruction manuals, serial numbers and software use license agreements are distributed in the form of data. The advantage of this method is that software can be distributed easily and quickly over a wide area. The first method involves distribution costs, such as transporting a package box, whereas the second method requires that components only be transmitted over all networks. In the second method, not only can the software upgrade be performed quickly, but also the cost of the software can be reduced. However, this method has a drawback that software can easily make illegal copies. Entering a serial number during the installation process is not a sufficient measure.

[0005] With the recent spread of the Internet, anyone can easily access a network and obtain software. The second method is expected to become the mainstream software acquisition method in the future.

On the other hand, in response to the spread of the Internet, a form of a new terminal that operates largely depending on a network is being discussed. An example of this is the network computer announced by Oracle at its own exhibition in 1996. The main purpose of this is to access the network. It is an inexpensive small terminal device of about $ 500, records only the software necessary for a small-capacity recording device, and accesses the network when necessary to access the software. It operates while downloading software. The personal information of the user and the operating conditions of the terminal are recorded on the attached IC card, the personal authentication is performed only by inserting the IC card and entering the password, and the operation is performed by constructing an environment according to the user's preference. .

[0007]

However, neither one of the two acquisition methods can completely prevent unauthorized use of software. Prevention of unauthorized use by serial numbers is not enough. If only a serial number is used, an acquaintance of a legitimate licensee can easily retrieve the license, and can install and use the software on his or her hard disk without obtaining a license.

[0008] The imperfections of this fraudulent use prevention measure result in software developers becoming reluctant to distribute software over a network.

Further, according to the conventional method, use of the software is limited to only the personal computer on which the software has been installed. It is not permitted to install and use the software on more than one personal computer at any one time. In order to use the same software on another personal computer, the software installed on the previous personal computer must be installed on the other personal computer after using the dedicated software or simply deleting it. This restriction is usually a rule stated in the software use license agreement, but since the original purchase was a license to use the software, the software can be used on any personal computer with a license. It is desirable to be able to use it.

[0010] In particular, network-dependent terminals frequently access the network and download software. However, for efficient use of the network, software is distributed and arranged so as not to concentrate data traffic. Is desirable. For this purpose, an appropriate system for checking for unauthorized use is necessary, but it is necessary to avoid concentration of data on software developers in the operation.

As a method for detecting unauthorized use due to theft of a serial number, it is conceivable to collect and inspect the serial number at a software developer via a network when operating the software. Data is concentrated on the basis, which is not preferable.

[0012] A first object of the present invention is to download software to a network terminal such as a personal computer via a network and check whether a license agreement for use of the software is properly maintained when operating the software. An object is to provide a system for preventing unauthorized use. However, the operation of this system must work in a way that encourages software distribution over the network. In addition, the system does not extremely concentrate data on the host side due to its operation.

[0013] A second object of the present invention is to separate a software use license from a terminal so that any terminal can use the software for which the use license has been acquired.

[0014]

In order to solve this problem, a software license is converted into data, recorded on a movable medium, and the license is checked by reading data when the software is used.

A public key encryption method is used for data conversion, and the software developer encrypts the data with a user's public key.
In addition, the data signed by the software developer itself is used as data for a software license.

At runtime, the software attempts to read data from the removable medium and decode the data. If the data is not valid, the decryption fails and appropriate decrypted data cannot be obtained, and it can be known that the software use license has not been correctly acquired. The software operates by limiting or changing the functions of the software based on the inspection results.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention, and shows a configuration of an apparatus main body that accesses a network such as the Internet to download software and executes the downloaded software. 1 is a movable recording medium (card), 2 is a recording / reading device (card adapter) for reading and writing the card 1, 3 is a network adapter for transmitting / receiving data or a program to / from a network, 4 is a hard disk or the like. A recording device for recording software and data, 5 is a memory, 6 is a CPU (Central Processing Unit), 7 is a display device controller, 8 is a display device, 9 is an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse. It is.
Except for the card 1 and the card adapter 2, the configuration is basically the same as that of a normal personal computer.

The CPU loads basic software (OS) and application programs from the storage device 4 or the network adapter 3 into the memory 5. The OS and the application programs are constituted by instructions to the CPU and other data, and the CPU operates according to the OS and the application programs loaded in the memory. The OS and the application program are collectively referred to simply as a program. Storage device 4
In this case, all frequently used or necessary programs are recorded, and the shortage of the programs generated during operation is copied from the network using the network adapter 3 and loaded into the memory 5. The processing result of the CPU is sent to the display device 8 via the display device controller 7. By viewing the display device 8, the user can know the operation result of the program. Instructions from the user are transmitted from the input device 9 to the CPU.

The card 1 can be easily inserted into and removed from the card adapter 2 as many times as possible, and the CPU 6 can read and write data contents of the card 1 inserted into the card adapter 2. A medium such as an IC card or a floppy disk can be used as the card.

FIG. 3 shows the contents of the memory 5 during operation. Here, a user B uses an application program P developed by a software developer A using the apparatus.
1 will be described. User B is legally P1
Suppose you have a license to use. If the program sizes of the OS and the application programs are sufficiently small with respect to the capacity of the memory 5, all the program codes of those programs are loaded into the memory 5.
Otherwise, only necessary or frequently used portions of the program codes of the OS and the application programs are resident in the memory 5. If a shortage occurs during operation, the shortage of the program is recorded in the recording device 4.
From the network or by copying from the network using the network adapter 3
To load. In any case, during operation, part or all of the OS and application programs are stored in the memory 5.
Is loaded.

The use license is checked at the initial stage of the operation of the application program P1. For this reason, at this stage, the program code PID for identifying P1, the license check program, the public key PKA of the company A, and the license check program are loaded into the program area of P1, and the program code of the OS is opened to the program area of OS. A key encryption program and a recording medium read / write program are loaded.

Here, the PID is a code for identifying the program P1. Use a program name or a number uniquely determined for each program. In order to simplify the processing, it is desirable to use data of a predetermined size.

The license check program is a program for checking whether the user has properly acquired the use license of P1. Since the data relating to the license of the user B is recorded on the card 1, the recording medium read / write program 303 is called and executed to read this data. Further, the public encryption program 302 is called and executed to decrypt this data.

FIG. 2 shows the contents of data recorded on the card 1. The data content is composed of the owner's public key and secret key, the authenticator's public key, a license management table, and individual license data. The public key and the private key are key data used for encryption or decryption in the public encryption system, and the owner's public key must be authenticated by an appropriate authenticator, for example, a bank or a public institution. is there. In order to enhance the validity of the public key, it is desirable that there be a plurality of certifiers. The license management table is data for managing a plurality of license data, and is composed of the total number of licenses, the PID of the program corresponding to each license data, the storage position in the card, and the size as shown in the figure. The license data is obtained by converting a software use license for each piece of software of the user into data.

The license data is used by the software developer to certify the use license of the corresponding software to a specific user. Specifically, the software developer obtains the user's public key from the user, encrypts the data used by the software with the user's public key, and encrypts the encrypted data with the secret of the software developer. Encrypted data obtained by public key encryption using a key or encrypted data obtained by digitally signing the above-described encrypted data by a software developer is used. By encrypting with the user's public key, it becomes data that cannot be actually restored by anyone but the user, and only the user can use the license data. Here, the reason why the limitation is realistic is that it is not impossible for anyone other than the owner of the decryption key to recover the encrypted data encrypted by the public key encryption method. The idea is that this would not be possible because of the impractical amount of time or expense involved. In the following description, such a case will be described without any practical limitation. The reason why the last step of license data generation may be digital signature or encryption of the software developer is that both are proved to be data created by the software developer. In the description, it is a prerequisite that the private keys of the user and the software developer are properly managed and that a third party cannot use them. In addition, it is necessary that the public keys of the user and the software developer have been approved by at least one or more common certifiers in order to confirm the mutual public keys.

In the description, the data required by the software may differ in the number and contents for each software. The data may be changed to the operation of software, or may be data completely unrelated to the operation.

As an example of the simplest case, use of a software serial number (SN) as data can be considered. This can be shown by Equation 1.

[0029]

(Equation 1)

[0030]

(Equation 2)

Here, the license data is L1, user B
The public key is PKB, and the private key of software developer A is S
The SN of KA and the program P1 is represented by SN1, and the encryption operation by the public encryption method is represented by the symbol *. The software developer A issues the license data L1 based on Equation 2, and transmits the license data L1 to the user B via the network. The license data L1 cannot be used by anyone other than the user B, and no problem occurs even if the third party eavesdrops or copies the license data L1.

As a more complicated example than the above-mentioned example, instead of the SN in this example, parameters for determining the operating conditions of the software, data for permitting use of the additional function, data for limiting the use period, and the like are used. It is possible. As an example of the parameter for determining the operating condition of the software, localization data for each language can be considered. The same software is distributed over a global network on a global scale, and it is only necessary to switch the language according to each language during operation. Examples of data for permitting use of additional functions
As a software function, a special function not used by a general user may be added as an option. In this case, it is expected that contract conditions such as a license fee will naturally change. An example of the data whose use period is limited may be trial use of software. It is effective to allow trial use free of charge only for a certain period to acquire new users of software. Even in this case, the same software main body as that of the authorized user can be used. By changing the license data in this way, it is possible to distribute the same software and operate according to the contents of each license agreement.

The operation of the software will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The software P1 is executed after the memory is loaded from the recording device or the network adapter. Immediately after loading, the license inspection program in the software P1 is executed. This license inspection program reads the corresponding license data from the card 1 and inspects it. Branching is performed with the inspection result as a condition, and processing (processing 1, processing 2,..., Processing k) for each result (result 1, result 2,..., Result k) is performed. Here, the number k of branches
Is a number depending on the program and is usually 2 or more. Any of the results correspond to the use of an incorrect license.

According to the present embodiment, licenses can be correctly managed even when software is distributed via a network, and illegal use can be prevented. Further, by converting the use license into data and including the conditions for software use in the data, it is possible to provide a program that operates according to the contents of the license for each user while distributing the same program. .

[0035]

According to the present invention, the use license of software distributed via a network can be correctly managed, so that the software developer can ship the software via the paid software network with peace of mind. . As a result, when a software upgrade is performed, a quick upgrade can be performed anywhere in the world. In addition, the distribution cost over a network reduces distribution costs, and the effect of preventing unauthorized copying is effective in lowering the price of software.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing data contents of a recording medium in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing memory contents at the time of software operation in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a use form of the apparatus of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart of an application program according to the first embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Movable recording medium, 2 ... Recording / reading apparatus of a recording medium, 3 ... Network adapter, 4 ... Recording apparatus of a main body, 5 ... Memory, 6 ... CPU, 7 ... Display controller, 8 ... Display.

Claims (3)

[Claims] Recording means for recording a computer program; memory means for temporarily storing the computer program read from the recording means; arithmetic processing means for executing the computer program stored in the memory means; A display device for displaying a processing result of the means, a network connection means for connecting to an external network, a detachable and portable small detachable data storage means, and the detachable data storage means connected to the present apparatus, A detachable data storage connection means for reading and writing data, wherein the network connection means reads the computer program from the external network, and the read computer program is temporarily stored in the storage means, or is directly stored in the memory Remember in the means The data is stored in the removable data storage means, and the data relating to the right of use of each computer program of the owner is stored in the removable data storage means. To check the legitimacy of
A data terminal device which operates differently according to the inspection result. 2. The data according to claim 1, wherein the data relating to the right to use the computer program is created by a copyright holder of the computer program based on a public key encryption method, and the secret key of the copyright holder and the right to purchase the right to use are acquired. A data terminal device that is data encrypted with a public key of a user. 3. The computer program according to claim 1, wherein said computer program includes a program for checking data relating to a right to use said computer program stored in said removable data storage means, and processes the data in accordance with a result of said test. A computer program programmed to change its behavior.