WO2005024694A1

WO2005024694A1 - Flash player apparatus and service method capable of applying copyright protection to flash files

Info

Publication number: WO2005024694A1
Application number: PCT/KR2004/002217
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jinho Chun
Original assignee: Aizmen, Inc.
Priority date: 2003-09-05
Filing date: 2004-09-02
Publication date: 2005-03-17
Also published as: KR100509970B1; KR20050025201A

Abstract

The present invention relates to the exclusive flash player apparatus(100) and service thereof, in which the method of copylight protection is applied to the flash file(extension swf) of the Macromedia, Inc., that is the development of the exclusive flash player apparatus(100) based on the external memory card(42) in which the contents authentication program protecting the copylight is applied and the contents are regenerated only in the corresponding flash layer apparatus(100) and service thereof, the flash player apparatus(100) is operated to the screen by the connection with the external image indication device such as the existing monitor(62) or used for a portable flash player apparatus(150) equipped with LCD as one body and implements an e-book and a game based on a flash file, and it may be used economically and conveniently compared with the conventional PC.

Description

FLASH PLAYER APPARATUS AND SERVICE METHOD CAPABLE OF APPLYING COPYRIGHT PROTECTION TO FLASH FILES

Technical Field The present invention relates to an exclusive flash player apparatus and control method thereof implementing the electronic book (hereinafter, referred to e-book) and game based on the flash file, in which the contents authentication program is applied so as to protect the copyright of the author of the flash file (extension swf), more particularly, to an exclusive flash player apparatus and service method thereof based on the external memory card, in which an identification number (hereinafter, referred to ID) is given to each of the flash player apparatus and the contents authentication program, in which the contents is operated only in the corresponding flash player apparatus, is applied.

Background Art In general, the terminal implementing the e-book provides simple contents based on the character and picture, the exclusive software viewer implementing the e-book is produced and distributed according to venders or products (PC, PDA, e-book etc.) and the contents is encrypted so that the contents may be operated only in the product in which the corresponding viewer is applied. But any users having the corresponding viewer can share with the contents together, accordingly the copyright protection for the contents isn't achieved well, and when the contents is produced, a characteristic production algorithm of the contents producing company is applied, and thus, there is a problem that it is difficult to distribute the contents widely. At present, for the general method to implement the contents of a moving picture, not the simple contents based on character and picture as mentioned above, the animation implementation by moving picture using the flash file (extension swf) of Macromedia, Inc. is spreading. While the conventional animation production method is to connect several copies of graphics such as bitmap (BMP, JPG, GIF etc.) and to implement the moving picture, and it takes a long time to produce the moving picture and takes much volume, the animation based on the flash file takes a little volume by use of the vector method of storing an image in mathematical method, and even though an image is enlarged or reduced without limitation, the pixel of the image isn't broken and the screen quality is very good. Further, this flash file has bilateral property and has a function to change the information according to the movement of the mouse, and thus the flash file is used for an user interface based on the animation, a juvenile story and a game, and furthermore, the source is open to the public and the production is standardized, and thus anyone who has the basic knowledge for the graphic can learn the production method of the flash file. That is to say, the flash file is one of the technologies of implementing the moving picture that is made in the easiest method, takes the least volume and shows at the highest speed and is an Internet technology that is most widely used in PC, and the flash player program is distributed to nearly every Web browser and implemented in most of PCs. By the advantage of the flash file as above, a juvenile story of moving picture made in flash file arouses the children's interest in studying and improves the study ability, and thus the e-book service of moving picture is provided in many Internet Websites. However, there is a inconvenience that when the children connects to the corresponding Internet Website and sees the flash file contents, generally they need to be registered as members and after registration as members, they have to input an user ID and a password each time, and further, even through it is very effective in the education and entertainment, there is a problem that the children may connect to a harmful Website directly or indirectly. In addition, the service vendor seldom provides the download service, in which the user stores the contents to PC and uses the contents freely so as to protect the copyright of the flash file contents, and thus the user has to connect to the corresponding Website whenever he or she uses the contents.

Disclosure of Invention Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a flash player apparatus in which a method of protecting contents copyright is applied and service method thereof. Another object of the present invention is to provide the flash player apparatus in which the method of protecting the contents copyright is applied and service method thereof, in which, when an user buys and uses an external memory card, in which the contents that copyright protection is applied are stored, after downloading the contents that copyright protection is applied and user stores the contents to the external memory card and uses the contents, the contents can be used only in the corresponding flash player apparatus legally. To achieve the above objects, a flash player apparatus (100) capable of applying copyright protection to flash files according to the present invention comprising: a power source unit (10) supplying an electric power to a system; a ROM (20) stored with a flash player operation program and an authentication program for protecting contents; a CPU (30) controlling the entire system; an external memory unit (40) equipped with an external memory card (42) and controlling it; a RAM (50) reading the program of the ROM (20) and the contents of the external memory card (42) set in the external memory unit (40), and operating the program; a video output unit (60) connected to a monitor (62) and outputting a video signal; an audio output unit (70) connected to a speaker (72) and outputting an audio signal; a signal input unit (80) inputting and controlling the signal by using a signal input device (82) such as a remote control, a mouse and a keyboard; and a peripheral device connecting unit (90) connected to various peripheral devices (102) such as a printer. Further, a method that a service vendor provides the contents formed in flash file to users doing e-commerce, a service method of the flash player apparatus (100) capable of applying copyright protection to flash files comprising: the step of the user performing the authentication process through Internet Website operated by the service vendor; the step of the user selecting various contents in form of moving picture flash files he or she wants after the authentication process is completed at the above step; and the step of the contents of flash file selected by the user, encrypted to individual type contents or published type contents through cryptographic module so that the contents may be used only in the user' s flash player apparatus (100), and then downloaded through Internet and stored in the memory card (42) or the memory card (42) delivered by home-delivery method and used. Furthermore, the service method of the flash player apparatus (100) capable of applying copyright protection to flash files comprising: the step of, when the flash player apparatus (100) is turned on, while the ROM (20) is booted (S102), all kinds of programs stored at the ROM (20) including the flash player operation program and the authentication program for contents protection transmitted to the RAM (50) (S103) ; the step of confirming the external memory card (42) is set in the external memory unit (40) (S104); the step of, when confirming the external memory card (42) is set in the external memory unit (40) , the contents authentication program of the external memory card (42) operated (S106) and confirming whether the system area exists in the external memory card (42) (S107) ; the step of, when the system area exists in the external memory card (42) at the above step (S107), comparing the contents file information written in the system area with the information of the contents file

(S108) ; the step of, when the contents file information of the corresponding system area corresponds to the information of the contents file, reading the seal code written in the system area (S110); the step of confirming whether the corresponding seal code corresponds to a factory default seal code (Sill) ; the step of, when the corresponding seal code corresponds to the factory default seal code, writing the ID of the user's flash player apparatus (100) to the seal code of the system area of the external memory card

(42) (S112) ; the step of, when the seal code doesn't correspond to the factory default seal code at the above step (Sill), confirming whether the seal code corresponds to the ID of the user's flash player apparatus (S113) ; the step of, when the seal code doesn't correspond to the ID of the user's flash player apparatus (100) at the above step (S113) , confirming whether the seal code corresponds to an unlimited seal code (S114); the step of, when the seal code corresponds to the factory default seal code at the above step (Sill) , the seal code corresponds to the ID of the user' s flash player apparatus (100) at the above step (S113) and the seal code corresponds to the unlimited seal code at the above step (S114), the contents authenticated to published type contents (S115) ; the step of, if the system area doesn't exist at the above step (S107), reading the header of the contents file (S116); the step of, after reading the file header at above step (S116) , confirming whether the user ID information in the header corresponds to the ID of the flash player apparatus which the user uses (S117); the step of, when the user ID information in the header corresponds to the ID of the flash player apparatus at the above step (S117), the contents authenticated to individual type contents (S118) ; the step of, when the user ID information in the header doesn't correspond to the ID of the flash player apparatus at the above step (S117), confirming the contents file is a general flash file header (S119) ; the step of, when the contents file is a general flash file header at the above step (S119) , the contents authenticated to free type contents (S120); the step of the corresponding list of the authenticated contents among the published type contents, the individual type contents and the free type contents displayed through the monitor (62) connected to the video output unit (60)(S121); the step of the user selecting the contents which he or she wants to regenerate of the displayed list at the above step (S122) ; the step of, after the user selecting the contents (S122) and the contents classified according to the contents type (S123), when the contents are the published type contents, decryption program operated and decrypting the contents to the P2 key (S124), the step of, when the contents are the individual type contents, decrypting the contents to 12 key (S125) and when the contents are the free type contents, the respective contents stored in the RAM (50) without decryption process (S126) ; the step of, operating the decrypted contents in the RAM (50) according to the contents type by use of the flash player program (S127); and the step of, the video signal and the audio signal generated by the operation of the flash player program outputted to the monitor (62) and the speaker (72) through the video output unit (60) and the audio output unit (70) (S128) . Brief Description of Drawings

The above and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram of an inner system of a flash player apparatus according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a configuration diagram of a service of the process that the contents are encrypted, bought and downloaded through Internet according to the present invention; Fig. 3 is a flowchart of the method that an user authenticates and uses various contents by using the flash player apparatus according to the present invention; Fig. 4 is a configuration diagram of a method of using a portable flash player apparatus according to the other embodiment of the present invention by use of a holder; Fig. 5 is a configuration diagram of the holder according to the present invention. * Description of reference characters of principal elements in the drawings 10 : power source unit 20 : ROM (20) 30 : CPU 40 : external memory unit 50 RAM 60 : video output unit 70 audio output unit 80 : signal input unit 90 peripheral device connecting unit 100 : flash player apparatus

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings below. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a flash player apparatus (100), which comprises a power source unit (10) supplying the electric power to a system, a ROM (20) stored with a flash player operation program and authentication program for contents protection, a CPU (30) controlling the entire system, an external memory unit (40) equipped with an external memory card (42) and controlling it, a RAM (50) reading the programs in the ROM (20) and the contents of the external memory card (42) in the external memory unit (40), and operating a program, a video output unit (60) connected to a monitor (62) and outputting a video signal, an audio output unit (70) connected to a speaker (72) and outputting an audio signal, a signal input unit (80) inputting and controlling a signal by using a signal input device (82) such as a remote control, a mouse and a keyboard etc., a peripheral device connecting unit (90) connected to various peripheral devices such as a printer. The power source unit (10) may be an external power source, an internal battery using lithium ion and lithium polymer etc. for a portability of the flash player apparatus (100) or an adapter of cigar jack type so that the power of vehicles is used when driving. And the ROM (20) is stored with embedded software OS such as WinCE, Linux, Palm, Symbian and Pocket PC etc. and a flash player program implementing flash file contents based on each OS, further, the ROM (20) is stored with a contents authentication program for a copyright protection of the contents stored in the external memory card (42) and an user interface software. Furthermore, the external memory unit (40) is composed of an setting part, in which the external memory card (42) stored with flash files correspondent to the contents is set, and a control part controlling the corresponding memory card, and there are external memory cards (42) such as PCMCIA card, CF card, SC card, MMC card, USB memory card, memory stick, CD and DVD etc.. In addition, the video output unit (60) and a video connecting unit connected to the monitor (62) control the video signal operated by the flash player program so that the signal is converted and output, and there are monitors (62) such as TV, LCD, CRT and VCR etc.. And the audio output unit (70) and an audio connecting unit connected to the speaker (72) control the audio signal operated by the flash player program so that the signal is converted to the signal which is adjusted to the speaker (72), and there are speakers (72) such as an internal speaker (72), an external speaker (72) and an earphone etc.. In addition, there are the video output unit (60) and the audio output unit (70) of the type that the existing monitor (62) and speaker (72) may be connected to the flash player apparatus (100) for economical system composition. And the flash player apparatus (100) may be set inside the monitor (62) or the flash player apparatus (100) may be set inside CD player, DVD player, VCR, set top box and MP3 player etc., and then connected to the monitor (62) and speaker (72) and used. Otherwise, a portable flash player apparatus (150) (100) as shown in Fig. 4, in which the monitor (62) is LCD that is set inside the flash player apparatus (100) as one body, the speaker (72) is an internal speaker (72) and the power source unit (10) is an internal battery, may be used. And the signal input unit (80) receives and controls input signal from the signal input device (82) , and a button switch, a touch screen, a key board, a joystick, a mouse and a remote control may by used for the signal input unit (80) . And the peripheral device connecting unit (90) is formed to transmit and receive data with peripheral devices such as PC, printer, PDA and GPS through peripheral interfaces such as serial, parallel and USB port etc.. In addition, for the peripheral device, there is a holder (95) or a holder (95) for charging which the portable flash player apparatus (150) can be set in, charge the interior battery of the portable flash player apparatus (150) with electricity and output video and audio to a monitor (62) and a speaker (72) connected outside, not an internal LCD and speaker (72) of the portable flash player apparatus (150) . In the mean time, Fig. 2 illustrates the entire system and service, the user connects to Internet Website of the contents service vender using his or her PC and selects the contents he or she wants, and the contents are encrypted via the cryptographic module so that it may be used only in the user's flash player apparatus (100) and downloaded through Internet, and then the contents are stored in the memory card, or the user may receive the memory card by home-delivery service and use it. After the external memory card (42) is set in the external memory unit (40) of the flash player apparatus (100) and the contents are authenticated by the contents authentication program, and the authenticated contents are decrypted, the flash player apparatus (100) is controlled and the flash player program is operated using the wireless remote control etc. and the video is output through the monitor (62) such as TV etc. and the audio is output through the speaker (72) . The speaker (72) may be the speaker (72) set inside the TV, one of the monitors (62), the screen output in the video output unit (60) is captured and may be transmitted to the printer which the peripheral device (102) connected to the flash player apparatus (100) and printed. Also, the database server which the service vendor operates and manages is a database material stored with flash file, user information and cryptographic module etc. and comprises a contents database, in which all kinds of information for the flash file is classified and stored according to genre, contents, author and publishing company, a price database, in which all kinds of the price for the flash file is determined, an individual information database stored with ID and personal information for user and the information such as the ID of the user flash player apparatus (100), a management database stored with all kinds of information for all related companies, fee payment and advertisement agents, and an cryptographic module encrypting the contents so as to protect the copyright. The cryptographic method for protecting the contents through cryptographic module classifies the contents to three types and encrypts them. The three types are respectively individual type contents, published type contents and free type contents. Firstly, the cryptographic method of the individual type contents for protecting the copyright is that, when the user connects to Internet Website of the contents service vendor and buys the contents, the ID of the user's flash player apparatus (100) inputted with the user information when registering to Internet Website of the service vendor, becomes a seed and the contents are encrypted to a public key (hereinafter, referred to II key) among cryptogram key (hereinafter, referred to I key) generated by a specific function (hereinafter, referred to

Make_I_Key (ID) ) made by the asymmetric cryptographic system. When the contents are encrypted to II key for authentication of the contents file, the ID of the user's flash player apparatus (100) is written as the user ID in the header of the encrypted contents file, and thus, when the external memory card (42) is set in the flash player apparatus (100), firstly, the header of the contents file is sought and the program confirms the corresponding contents are individual type contents and the confirmed contents are implemented through the decrypting process as following. That is to say, the contents authentication program including the above Make_I_Key (ID) function algorithm is stored inside the user's flash player apparatus (100), and thus the individual type contents stored in the external memory card (42) are decrypted using a private key (hereinafter, referred to 12 key) among I keys generated on the basis of the ID of the user's flash player apparatus (100) . At this time, because the individual type contents are decrypted to only 12 key of the corresponding user' s flash player apparatus (100) , the contents may not be implemented in other flash player apparatus (100) of which ID is different as well as PC. Thereafter, a published type contents, in which the contents are usually stored in the external memory card

(42), and in case that the contents are bought to many and unspecified persons who don't know the ID of the flash player apparatus (100) in advance, such as the user buys the contents in a book store and the user connects to the Website of the contents service vendor and buys it, the copyright of the contents is protected. In this case, because the ID of the user's flash player apparatus (100) is not known, the cryptographic method which is different with the individual type contents has to be applied. The cryptographic method of the published type contents, in which the copy of the contents stored in the external memory card (42) is prevented and the contents are operated only in the flash player apparatus (100) that is applied and used first, is described as following. Firstly, by using additional characteristic seed (hereinafter, referred to RS) , not using the ID of the user's flash player apparatus (100) as a seed, the cryptographic contents are made by a public key (hereinafter, referred to PI key) among cryptogram keys (hereinafter, referred to P key) generated by specific function (hereinafter, referred to Make_P_Key (RS) ) by the method of the asymmetric cryptographic system. The contents encrypted as above can be decrypted only in the flash player apparatus (100) having the private key (hereinafter, referred to P2 key) and can't be operated in other device such as PC, but the contents can be operated in any flash player apparatus (100) in which the contents are set first. At this time, to prevent the contents from using in other flash player apparatus (100) except the flash player apparatus (100) in which the contents are set first or to prevent the contents file stored in the external memory card (42) from being copied illegally, the system area which is not accessible in PC and accessible only in the flash player apparatus (100) is formed in the external memory card (42) additionally. The system area has the contents file information such as file name, file length, CRC (Cyclic redundancy check) code for checking errors and the information such as seal code, and the contents file information in the system area of the external memory card (42) is compared with the contents file information stored in the external memory card (42) so as to judge the damage and suitability of the contents file. When a factory default seal code is stored in the seal code of the system area of the early external memory card (42), the ID of the flash player apparatus (100) using the said external memory card (42) first is stored in the seal code of the system area of the external memory card (42), and thus when the contents of the external memory card (42) are operated, the ID of the flash player apparatus (100) corresponds to the seal code of the system area of the external memory card (42) and the contents are authenticated to the published type contents and operated, accordingly, the contents can't be used in other flash player apparatus (100) having a different ID and the copyright is protected. Accordingly, because not the factory default seal code but the ID of the flash player apparatus (100) used first is written in the seal code of the system area of the external memory card (42), when the external memory card (42) in which the published type contents is set is used in other flash player apparatus (100), the seal code is different with the ID of the flash player apparatus (100) and the contents can't be authenticated and regenerated. In addition, on the assumption of receiving the approval of author, not a factory default seal code but an unlimited seal code is stored in the seal code of the system area of the early external memory card (42) so that the published type contents which is operated in all flash player apparatuses (100) as well as the flash player apparatus (100) in which the contents are set first may be implemented, and thus when the external memory card (42) is set and used, if the seal code in the system area of the external memory card (42) corresponds to the unlimited seal code, different with the factory default seal code, the ID of the flash player apparatus (100) used first is directly authenticated to legal published type contents without the process of storing in seal code of the system area of the external memory card (42), and thus the contents can be operated in all flash player apparatuses (100) as well as the flash player apparatus (100) in which the contents are set first. This published type contents having the unlimited seal code can be operated in the flash player of all users who lends the contents by legal process as a lent video of general video lending agency or a lent book of the book lending agency, and the published type contents are appropriate for lending, not sale. In addition, the decryption process of the published type contents is that the published type contents stored in the external memory card (42) is decrypted using P2 key generated by the contents authentication program including Make_P_Key (RS) function algorithm stored in the user's flash player apparatus (100) . Finally, the free type contents are free contents which don't need the copyright protection. The free type contents are downloaded through Internet without encrypting when the user selects the contents or are stored in the external memory card (42) and sent to the user by home- delivery service. Meanwhile, Fig. 4 is other embodiment of the present invention, the portable flash player apparatus (150), in which the LCD of the monitor (62) is set in the flash player apparatus (100) as one body, the speaker (72) is an internal speaker (72), and the power source is an internal battery, is illustrated, and the portable flash player apparatus (150) can be movable and used anywhere in house without additional monitor (62) such as TV and can be used outdoors. In addition, the portable flash player apparatus (150) (100) is set in an additional holder which is connected to the TV, one of the monitors (62) and has charging function, and thus whenever seeing the portable flash player through the TV of additional monitor (62), the user can use the portable flash player without the inconvenience of connecting AB cable or an adapter for charging to the TV. The holder illustrated in Fig. 5 comprises a power source supplying the power to the portable flash player by using the adapter, a main body connecting unit connected to the portable flash player unit, charging it and transmitting and receiving the data, a video output unit (60) outputting video to the monitor (62), an audio output unit (70) outputting audio to the speaker (72) . At this time, the existing TV can be used instead of the monitor (62) and speaker (72). Meanwhile, Fig. 3 is a flowchart of process for managing an operation using all kinds of contents types as mentioned above, firstly, the flash player apparatus (100) is turned on (S101) and the ROM (20) is booted (S102) , and as mentioned in Fig. 1, all kinds of programs stored in ROM (20) including the flash player operating program and the contents authentication program are transmitted to the RAM (50) (S103) . At this time, after confirming the external memory card (42) is set in the external memory unit (40), if the external memory card (42) is recognized, the next step is performed, otherwise, the monitor (62) shows the message so that the external memory card (42) is inserted to the external memory unit (40) (S105) and the user inserts the external memory card (42) to the external memory unit (40) and then uses the player. As described above, when the equipment of the external memory card (42) to the external memory unit (40) is confirmed, the authentication program authenticating the contents of the external memory card (42) is operated (S106) and asks whether there is additional system area in the external memory card (42) (S107). At the above step (S107), while in case that the system area exists, the program confirms whether file name, file length and CRC (Cyclic redundancy check) code of the contents summary information written in the system area correspond to the information of the contents file(S108), in case that the contents summary information written in the system area doesn't correspond to the information of the contents file, the contents are judged as the contents which can't be authenticated (S109) . At the above step (S107), in case that the contents summary information written in the system area corresponds to the information of the contents file, the program reads seal code written in the system area (S110) and confirms whether the corresponding seal code corresponds to the factory default seal code (Sill) . At the above step (Sill), while in case that the corresponding seal code corresponds to the factory default seal code, the ID of the user's flash player apparatus (100) is written to the seal code in the system area of the external memory card (42) , in case that the seal code doesn't correspond to the factory default seal code, the program confirms whether the seal code corresponds to the ID of the user's flash player apparatus (100) (S113) . At the above step (S113) , in case that the seal code doesn't correspond to the ID of the user's flash player apparatus (100) , the program confirms whether the seal code corresponds to the unlimited seal code (S114). In case that the seal code corresponds to the factory default seal code at the above step (Sill), the seal code corresponds to the ID of the flash player apparatus (100) at the above step(S113), and the seal code corresponds to the unlimited seal code at the above step(S114), the contents are authenticated to the published type contents, in case that the seal code doesn't correspond to one of them, the contents are judged as the contents which can't be authenticated to the corresponding flash player apparatus (100) . Meanwhile, at the step of confirming the system area exists in the external memory card (42) inserted to the external memory unit (40) (S107), if the system area doesn't exist, the program reads the header of the contents file (S116) and confirms whether the user's ID information in the header corresponds to the ID of the flash player apparatus (100) which the user uses (S117), and then in case of corresponding, the contents are authenticated to the individual type contents (S118), and in case of not corresponding, the program confirms the header is general flash file header of the free type contents (S119) . In case that the header of the contents file is a general flash file header, the contents are authenticated to the free type contents (S120) , in case that the header of the contents file is not a general flash file header, the contents are judged as the contents which can't be authenticated to the corresponding flash player apparatus (100) (S109) . By the process as above, the corresponding list of the contents authenticated to one of the published type contents, the individual type contents and the free type contents is displayed through the monitor (62) connected to the video output unit (60) (S121) . Thereafter, if the user selects the contents (S122), the contents are classified according to the contents type (S123) , in case of the published type contents, the decrypting program is operated and decrypts the contents to P2 key (S124), in case of the individual type contents, the decryption program decrypts the contents to 12 key(S125) and in case of the free type contents, the respective contents are stored in the RAM (50) and operated by the flash player program (S127) . Further, the video signal and the audio signal generated through the operation of the flash player program at the above step (S125) is outputted to the monitor (62) and the speaker (72) through the video output unit (60) and the audio output unit (70) (S128) .

Industrial Applicability In accordance with the flash player apparatus and service method capable of applying copyright protection to flash files as mentioned above, considering the convenient function and economical efficiency of the exclusive flash player apparatus, by the system configuration using the existing TV for the monitor and the speaker and using remote control for the signal input device, even children can use the flash player apparatus easily, conveniently and safely, separated from the harmful environmental of Internet, and the user's convenient efficiency can be increased by means of using the existing flash file contents which could be used only through Internet connection at any time by use of the external memory card. In addition, by providing various contents types which can accept all of the specific user and the nonspecific user, the contents can be lent as well as bought through

Internet and the user's convenient efficiency for purchase and use can be increased. Further, through the contents encryption and the authentication program so that these various types of contents can be implemented only in the flash player apparatus owned by the user, the illegal copy and circulation of the contents are prevented and the copyright is protected, and thus the contents development is spread and the development of the contents having good quality is promoted, finally the user can use various and good contents . Furthermore, the portable flash player apparatus that the LDC is set inside the flash player apparatus as one body has an advantage that the contents can be implemented anywhere in house and outdoors. The flash player apparatus and service method capable of applying copyright protection to flash files according to the present invention having the above advantages can be used for a language study and a game as well as a multimedia juvenile story.

Claims

1. A flash player apparatus (100) capable of applying copyright protection to flash files comprising: a power source unit (10) supplying an electric power to a system; a ROM (20) stored with a flash player operation program and an authentication program for protecting contents; a CPU (30) controlling the entire system; an external memory unit (40) equipped with an external memory card (42) and controlling it; a RAM (50) reading the program of the ROM (20) and the contents of the external memory card (42) set in the external memory unit (40), and operating the program; a video output unit (60) connected to a monitor (62) and outputting a video signal; an audio output unit (70) connected to a speaker (72) and outputting an audio signal; a signal input unit (80) inputting and controlling the signal by using a signal input device (82) such as a remote control, a mouse and a keyboard; and a peripheral device connecting unit (90) connected to various peripheral devices (102) such as a printer.

2. A method that a service vendor provides the contents formed in flash file to users doing e-commerce, a service method of the flash player apparatus (100) capable of applying copyright protection to flash files comprising: the step of the user performing the authentication process through Internet Website operated by the service vendor; the step of the user selecting various contents in form of moving picture flash files he or she wants after the authentication process is completed at the above step; and the step of the contents of flash file selected by the user, encrypted to individual type contents or published type contents through cryptographic module so that the contents may be used only in the user' s flash player apparatus (100), and then downloaded through Internet and stored in the memory card (42) or the memory card (42) delivered by home-delivery method and used.

3. The service method of the flash player apparatus (100) capable of applying copyright protection to flash files comprising: the step of, when the flash player apparatus (100) is turned on, while the ROM (20) is booted (S102), all kinds of programs stored at the ROM (20) including the flash player operation program and the authentication program for contents protection transmitted to the RAM (50) (S103) ; the step of confirming the external memory card (42) is set in the external memory unit (40) (S104); the step of, when confirming the external memory card (42) is set in the external memory unit (40), the contents authentication program of the external memory card (42) operated (S106) and confirming whether the system area exists in the external memory card (42) (S107); the step of, when the system area exists in the external memory card (42) at the above step (S107), comparing the contents file information written in the system area with the information of the contents file (S108) ; the step of, when the contents file information of the corresponding system area corresponds to the information of the contents file, reading the seal code written in the system area (S110) ; the step of confirming whether the corresponding seal code corresponds to a factory default seal code (Sill) ; the step of, when the corresponding seal code corresponds to the factory default seal code, writing the ID of the user's flash player apparatus (100) to the seal code of the system area of the external memory card (42) (S112) ; the step of, when the seal code doesn't correspond to the factory default seal code at the above step (Sill) , confirming whether the seal code corresponds to the ID of the user's flash player apparatus (S113) ; the step of, when the seal code doesn't correspond to the ID of the user's flash player apparatus (100) at the above step (S113) , confirming whether the seal code corresponds to an unlimited seal code (S114); the step of, when the seal code corresponds to the factory default seal code at the above step (Sill), the seal code corresponds to the ID of the user's flash player apparatus (100) at the above step (S113) and the seal code corresponds to the unlimited seal code at the above step (S114), the contents authenticated to published type contents (S115) ; the step of, if the system area doesn't exist at the above step (S107), reading the header of the contents file (S116) ; the step of, after reading the file header at above step ^' (S116) , confirming whether the user ID information in the header corresponds to the ID of the flash player apparatus which the user uses (S117) ; the step of, when the user ID information in the header corresponds to the ID of the flash player apparatus at the above step (S117), the contents authenticated to individual type contents (S118); the step of, when the user ID information in the header doesn't correspond to the ID of the flash player apparatus at the above step (S117), confirming the contents file is a general flash file header (S119) ; the step of, when the contents file is a general flash file header at the above step (S119) , the contents authenticated to free type contents (S120) ; the step of the corresponding list of the authenticated contents among the published type contents, the individual type contents and the free type contents displayed through the monitor (62) connected to the video output unit (60) (S121) ; the step of the user selecting the contents which he or she wants to regenerate of the displayed list at the above step (S122) ; the step of, after the user selecting the contents (S122) and the contents classified according to the contents type (S123) , when the contents are the published type contents, decryption program operated and decrypting the contents to the P2 key (S124), the step of, when the contents are the individual type contents, decrypting the contents to 12 key (S125) and when the contents are the free type contents, the respective contents stored in the RAM (50) without decryption process (S126) ; the step of, operating the decrypted contents in the RAM (50) according to the contents type by use of the flash player program (S127); and the step of, the video signal and the audio signal generated by the operation of the flash player program outputted to the monitor (62) and the speaker (72) through the video output unit (60) and the audio output unit (70) (S128) .

4. The service method as set forth in claim 3, wherein, the individual type contents are encrypted to II key of a public key among I keys generated on the basis of the ID of the flash player apparatus (100) owned by the user and the ID of the user's flash player apparatus (100) is written as the user's ID in the header of the encrypted contents file, meanwhile, in case that the contents are decrypted in the user's flash player apparatus, when the ID of the header of the encrypted contents file is compared with the ID of the user's flash player apparatus (100) and corresponds to it, the contents is decrypted to 12 key of a private key among I keys generated on the basis of the ID of the user's flash player apparatus (100) so that the contents may not be used in other flash player apparatus (100) having a different ID.

5. The service method as set forth in claim 3, wherein, the published type contents are encrypted to the public key (hereinafter, referred to PI key) among the encrypted keys (hereinafter, referred to P key) generated by an asymmetric cryptographic system, the corresponding contents file information and the seal code information are written in the system area of the external memory card (42) in which the encrypted contents are stored, and thus, when the external memory card (42) is first set in the external memory unit (40), the contents file information in the system area of the external memory card (42) corresponds to the contents information of the external memory card (42), in case that the seal code is the factory default seal code, the ID of the user's flash player apparatus (100) is stored to the seal code so that the user first equipped with the external memory card (42) may use the contents, meanwhile, when the seal code is the unlimited seal code, the contents may be operated in any flash player apparatus (100) on the assumption of obtaining the approval of the author of the contents.

6. The flash player apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein, the external memory card (42) card is set in the external memory unit (40) of the flash player apparatus (100), the existing TV is used for the monitor (62) connected to the video output unit (60), the external speaker (72) or the speaker (72) set inside the TV may be used for the speaker (72) connected to the audio output unit (70) , a wireless remote control may be used for the signal input device (82) of the flash player apparatus (100) .

7. The flash player apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein, a portable flash player apparatus (150) (150) comprising a LCD set inside the flash player apparatus (100) as one body is used for the monitor (62) connected to the video output unit (60), an internal battery is used for the power source unit (10), an internal speaker (72) is used for the speaker (72) of the audio connecting unit, a button switch or a joystick is used for the signal input device (82) in the signal input unit (80), is formed.

8. The flash player apparatus as set forth in claim 7, wherein, the portable flash player apparatus (150) is connected to a main body connecting unit (97) of the holder (95) and outputted to the monitor (62) and the speaker (72) through a video output unit (60) and an audio output unit (70) of the holder (95), and the portable flash player apparatus (100) is charged by the power source unit (10) of the holder (95) .

9. The flash player apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein, the flash player apparatus (100) is set inside the TV, one of the monitors (62) and used in the TV, and the flash player apparatus (100) is set inside a CD player, a DVD player, a VCR, a set top box and MP3 player.

10. The service method as set forth in claim 3, wherein, at the above step (S128), after the screen is outputted in the video output unit (60) is captured, the screen is transmitted and printed through the printer among the peripheral devices (102) connected to the flash player apparatus (100) .