Duplicating device

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

【0001】

[Technical field to which the invention belongs]

The present invention relates to a copying device that prevents unauthorized copying of confidential data, confidential data, copyrighted materials, and other confidential data, documents, moving images, printed materials, banknotes, securities, and various types of cash vouchers. Is.

【0002】

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, with the progress of networking and digitalization, individual devices have become connected to the network, and electronic data can be easily acquired and printed. On the other hand, with DTP, as a result of technological development aimed at forming images that are faithful to the created manuscript data, high-definition reproductions have come to be obtained. As a result, an environment is being created in which electronic data can be acquired and high-definition printing can be easily performed.

【0003】

On the other hand, if a confidentially managed document is duplicated, it will cause problems such as confidentiality leakage. In addition, if a copy that is indistinguishable from the original manuscript is easily obtained, there is a risk of unauthorized use of the copyrighted work and further forgery of banknotes and securities, resulting in great damage.

【0004】

Conventionally, color copiers have been equipped with an anti-counterfeiting function for banknotes and the like. FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a conventional color copier. In FIG. 13, the image signal read from the scanner 110 is determined from the image features whether it is an image signal of banknotes or securities whose copying is prohibited by the specific image determination circuit 120, and conversion such as reduced image or mirror image inversion is performed. By activating the copy protection function that reproduces the image after performing the processing, the copy is easily identified as a counterfeit and output to the printer 130 to prevent counterfeiting (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-316783 image processing device).

【0005】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

As a recent trend, not only paper manuscripts but also digitized documents have become widespread. There is a problem that confidential electronic documents and literary data can be easily obtained from a network by a personal computer and can be illegally printed in large quantities by a high-speed printer.

【0006】

By the way, since the above-mentioned prior art discriminates an image of a document read by a scanner, it cannot deal with the above-mentioned problem relating to electronic data that cannot be read by a scanner.

【0007】

The present invention solves the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a data monitoring method for preventing unauthorized duplication of electronic data prohibited from duplication in advance and promptly.

【0008】

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the first duplication apparatus in the present invention uses the duplication prohibited information consisting of the duplication target data, the duplication prohibited data information, and the duplication prohibition information based on the duplication prohibition information. When the data monitoring means for monitoring the generated unfolded image, the duplication means for generating a copy of the target data, the information registration means for registering the duplication prohibition information, and the unfolded image are regarded as the duplication prohibition information. A control means for controlling the duplication operation to be stopped is provided.

【0009】

Further, the second duplication device in the present invention includes a first specific information extraction means for extracting the duplication target data, identification information unique to a predetermined device involved in the duplication data, and the identification of the target data. It is provided with an information addition means for adding information and generating new duplicate data.

【0010】

Further, the third duplication device in the present invention includes a second specific information extraction means for extracting the target data to be duplicated and specific application information unique to the software involved in the duplicate data, and the specific application on the target data. It is provided with an information addition means for adding information and generating new duplicate data.

【0011】

Further, the fourth duplication device in the present invention analyzes the duplication data in the duplication device that receives the duplication data and generates a copy according to the duplication data, and obtains unique information that identifies a predetermined device involved in the duplication data. An extraction means for extracting and a specific information giving means for giving the extracted unique information to the duplicate as new duplicate data are provided.

【0012】

In addition, the fifth duplication device in the present invention analyzes the duplication data and extracts unique information that identifies the software involved in the duplication data in the duplication device that accepts the duplication data and generates the duplication according to the duplication data. The extraction means and the specific information giving means for giving the extracted unique information to the duplicate as new duplicate data are provided.

【0013】

Further, the sixth duplication device in the present invention is a network-compatible duplication device that receives the duplication data and generates a copy according to the duplication data, and is an extraction means for extracting the IP address assigned to the duplication device and extraction. It is provided with a specific information giving means for giving the obtained IP address to the duplicate as new duplicate data.

【0014】

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

【0015】

(First Embodiment) First, in the first embodiment of the present invention, an embodiment of a duplication device for prohibiting unauthorized duplication in a personal computer is used with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4. I will explain.

【0016】

Figure 2 shows a configuration diagram of the usage environment of a personal computer. Personal computer 1 (hereinafter, personal computer 1 is referred to as PC1) is equipped with various application software, and when a simple printing system is configured, editing processing, processing processing, and image processing (color processing). I do. Scanner 3 is used to input images to PC1. The printer 2 forms an image of a print image on paper, transparency paper, or the like according to the print data of PC1. When PC1 is connected to network 100, it captures images from network scanner 5 (hereinafter referred to as NS5) on network 100 and transfers print data to network printer 4 (hereinafter referred to as NP4). You can also print. A DTP system can be configured with a PC1 for color processing and processing, and a printer 2 for printing. Further, a scanner 3 is connected to read the document.

【0017】

Next, the operation when the PC 1 prints the specific print data 11 will be described with reference to FIG.

【0018】

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the personal computer 1. When the print image is confirmed by the application installed on PC1, print designation is made and print data 11 is generated. Further, the print data 11 is passed to the printer driver 12. The printer driver 12 is pre-installed as a control program for bridging data from the PC 1 to the printer 2. This printer driver 12 transfers the print data 11 designated for printing by the application to the printer 2.

【0019】

The print information analysis circuit 15 constantly monitors the print data 11 transferred to the printer 2, and includes character string information, image pattern information, code information, encrypted information embedded by electronic watermarking technology, etc. written in a page description language or the like. The final development image is formed in advance in the memory 16 and collated and analyzed with the information from the copy prohibition information 14. If it is determined that the print information of the print data 11 is registered in the copy prohibition information 14 in advance, the stop command 151 for stopping the transfer of the print data is output to the printer driver 12. The printer driver 12 stops the transfer of print data by the stop instruction 151. This makes it possible to prevent unauthorized printing at the PC1 level.

【0020】

The content of the copy prohibition information 14 can be updated at all times in response to the content for which printing is prohibited. As a result, it is possible to quickly respond to the confidentiality management level, confidential information, anti-counterfeiting technology, and encryption technology, whose technological development is advancing every day. This update method will be described. When the information card 210 is inserted, the information registration circuit 81 authenticates the information card 210. Only when it is determined that there is a registration right, the registration data saved in the information card 210 is acquired. Next, the information registration circuit 81 rewrites the contents of the copy prohibition information 14 based on the acquired registration data. Further, the registration data may be obtained via the network 100. By having this remote registration function, prohibited print information can be easily updated, and the content can be maintained in the latest information that is updated on a daily basis. Since there is no need to replace the memory built into the device, updates can be performed quickly and the spread of unauthorized copying can be prevented.

【0021】

In addition, by confirming the authentication, it is possible to prevent falsification of information and modification of a person who prints illegally. In addition, it is possible to have a management level, and management of confidential information can be realized at various hierarchical levels.

【0022】

The information card 210 may be provided by an IC card, an FD (floppy (registered trademark) disk), a CD-ROM, a DVD-RAM, or the like, and any recording medium capable of registering information may be used. Next, the stored information of the copy prohibition information 14 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the stored information of the copy prohibition information 14.

【0023】

The copy prohibition information 14 stores information that can identify the document, such as character information 141 of the document data, image pattern information 142, code information 143, and encryption information 144 inserted in the image by digital watermarking technology.

【0024】

In the character string information 141 of the document data, the title in the document and the specific character string in the document (for example, the main keyword of the confidential document) are stored. Unique pattern information that can identify print information is stored in the image pattern information 142. The code information 143 stores the analysis information of the code corresponding to the case where the document management code is assigned to the manuscript data. The encryption information 144 includes the digital watermark decryption information embedded in the copyrighted photographic image data and the decryption of the encryption pattern printed in advance on the manuscript read by the scanner 3 by a predetermined encryption (security printing, etc.). The algorithm, code type information, etc. are saved. The copy prohibition information 14 may be any printed matter such as documents, banknotes, securities, and cash vouchers as long as the printed information can be specified.

【0025】

Next, the operation of the print information analysis circuit 15 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the print information analysis circuit 15. The print information analysis circuit 15 constantly monitors the printer driver 12 so that a predetermined operation is always performed when printing is started. First, when the operation is started, the drawing engine 154 obtains the drawing information of the print data 11 from the printer driver 12, and performs the drawing operation in the confirmation memory 16 according to the drawing information. The contents of the drawn drawn image data 161 are analyzed by various analysis engines. The title analysis engine 155 identifies the area of the title area in the drawn image data 161 and transfers the analysis result of the contents to the collation circuit 159. The collation circuit 159 selects character information 141 that can be used as collation information from the duplication prohibition information 14, and collates it with the analysis result transferred by the title analysis engine 155. If matching information is found as a result of collation, it is regarded as printing of illegal duplication, and the printing operation of the printer driver 12 is stopped by the signal 151.

【0026】

Similarly, the document analysis engine 156 detects the text area and analyzes the content, the image analysis engine 157 detects the photographic area and analyzes the content, and the code analysis engine 158 detects the code area and analyzes the content. The analysis results are transferred to the matching circuit 159, respectively. The collation circuit 159 selects character information 141, image pattern information 142, code information 143, and encryption information 144 that can be used as collation information from the duplication prohibition information 14, and collates them with the analysis results transferred from various analysis engines. .. If any match is detected as a result of collation, it is regarded as printing of illegal duplication, and the printing operation of the printer driver 12 is stopped by the signal 151. In addition, the code analysis engine 158 queries the collation circuit 159 for the decoding algorithm required for decoding so that the latest decoding algorithm can be obtained. As a result, it is possible to always cope with the cryptographic technology that is constantly changing. The collation circuit 159 obtains necessary information from the duplication prohibition information 14 and responds to each analysis engine in response to an inquiry from each analysis engine.

【0027】

As described above, by having a plurality of analysis engines, it is possible to deal with various printed documents having different document characteristics.

【0028】

As described above, according to the first embodiment, when printing from the PC1 to the printer, the printed contents are analyzed and a function to prevent unauthorized duplication is provided to prevent unauthorized duplication of confidential documents in the company, banknotes, and money. It is possible to prevent forgery of rights. Furthermore, by having a mechanism that can easily update illegally duplicated information, it is possible to quickly respond to the confidentiality management level, confidential information, anti-counterfeiting technology, and encryption technology, whose technological development is advancing every day. As a result, it is possible to prevent the spread of unauthorized copying.

【0029】

In addition, by confirming the authentication, it is possible to prevent falsification of information and modification of a person who prints illegally. In addition, it is possible to have a management level, and management of confidential information can be realized at various hierarchical levels.

【0030】

In addition, if a personal computer is to have an unauthorized copy protection function, no special hardware is required and only the sostware needs to be installed, which can be realized at low cost.

【0031】

(Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment, a duplication device incorporating an unauthorized duplication prevention function in a personal computer has been described, but here, when an unauthorized copy is distributed, the unauthorized copy is output. An embodiment of a duplication device having a mechanism capable of identifying a device and tracking it quickly will be described. FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an information addition circuit 18 that adds device-specific identification information to duplicate data.

【0032】

The information addition circuit 18 extracts the CPU identification information 18a built in the central control unit (hereinafter referred to as CPU) mounted on the PC 1 and sends the information to the printer driver 19. The printer driver 19 adds the CPU identification information 18a to the print data 11 and outputs it to the printer 2 as new print data. The CPU is unique and unique to PC1, and is an effective information source for managing users.

【0033】

Similarly, the information addition circuit 18 acquires the application registration information 18b mounted on the PC 1 from each application software 92 and sends the information to the printer driver 19. The registration information includes user registration information, user information such as an e-mail address, user information using the device, date information, and the like. The printer driver 19 adds the application registration information 18b to the print data 11 and outputs the new print data to the printer 2.

【0034】

The application registration information 18b includes user information registration at the time of installation, registration of a predetermined key number distributed to users, and the like. In addition, the e-mail address set by the user in the application is effective as information for locating the user who is using it, and is an effective information source as information for specifying the user, place, and date and time involved in the reproduction. Further, the registration information of the operating system of PC1 (hereinafter referred to as OS) may be used, and any installed software that can identify the user and the software may be used.

【0035】

Similarly, the information addition circuit 18 extracts the hardware information 18c mounted on the PC 1 and sends the information to the printer driver 19. The printer driver 19 adds the hardware information 18c to the print data 11 and outputs it to the printer 2 as new print data. As hardware information, the board information on which the CPU of PC1 is mounted and the IP address set in the network interface 93 are acquired. Further, the information of the connected printer 2 may be acquired from the driver.

【0036】

As described above, according to the second embodiment, it is possible to track the source location, date and time, and user of the duplicate by adding information that identifies the user, location, and date of the device or software to the print data. it can. As a result, the device that output the illegal copy can be quickly identified, and the print data creation status is left as evidence. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the spread of the illegal copy and minimize the leakage range of confidential information. it can.

【0037】

(Third Embodiment) Here, an embodiment in which the printer 2 has a tracking function will be described. The operation of the printer 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the printer 2.

【0038】

The printer 2 receives the print data from the PC 1 in the reception buffer 21 and sequentially sends the print data to the command analysis circuit 22. The command analysis circuit 22 analyzes the language and image data format of the received print data.

【0039】

The command analysis circuit 22 analyzes the language and image data format of the received print data, extracts the identification information 222 (device information, software information, hardware information, etc.) given to the print data, and extracts the specific information addition circuit 80. Pass to.

【0040】

Next, the command analysis circuit 22 transfers the print data to the graphic / character drawing circuit 23 if it is necessary to draw characters and figures based on the analysis result. The graphic / character drawing circuit 23 performs a predetermined drawing operation on the image memory 26 via the memory controller 25. Similarly, the command analysis circuit 22 transfers the print data to the image drawing circuit 27 if it is necessary to develop the photographic data based on the analysis result.

【0041】

The image drawing circuit 27 develops predetermined photographic data in the image memory 26 via the memory controller 25.

【0042】

The specific information addition circuit 80 modulates the identification information 222 in the image memory 26 in a predetermined pattern via the memory controller 25 and adds the identification information 222 to the developed image. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the specific information code 1000 is assigned on the print data 261. Alternatively, a predetermined pattern may be sent directly to the printer engine 24 and printed on paper.

【0043】

When the desired image data is formed in the image memory 26, the memory controller 25 transfers the image data to the printer engine 24. The printer engine 24 prints on paper from the received image data.

【0044】

As described above, according to the third embodiment, when the specific information given to the print data received by the printer 2 is extracted and printing is performed inside the printer 2, the specific information is further added to the print data. Is automatically assigned, so that the device can be tracked in the event of unauthorized copying of confidential documents in the company, forgery of bills, money rights, etc.

【0045】

(Fourth Embodiment) Here, an embodiment in which the printer 4 connected to the network has a tracking function will be described. The operation of the printer 4 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the printer 4.

【0046】

The printer 4 receives the print data from the PC 1 or the like via the network interface 41, and sequentially sends the print data to the command analysis circuit 42. The command analysis circuit 42 analyzes the language and image data format of the received print data. The command analysis circuit 42 analyzes the language and image data format of the received print data.

【0047】

Next, the command analysis circuit 42 transfers the print data to the graphic / character drawing circuit 43 if it is necessary to draw characters and figures based on the analysis result. The graphic / character drawing circuit 43 performs a predetermined drawing operation on the image memory 46 via the memory controller 45. Similarly, the command analysis circuit 42 transfers the print data to the image drawing circuit 47 if it is necessary to develop the photographic data based on the analysis result.

【0048】

The image drawing circuit 47 develops predetermined photographic data in the image memory 46 via the memory controller 45.

【0049】

The specific information addition circuit 80 extracts the IP address 223 assigned to the printer 4 from the network interface 41, and modulates the IP address 223 in the image memory 46 in a predetermined pattern via the memory controller 45 to obtain a developed image. Give. As for the form to be given, for example, as in the third embodiment, a specific information code is given on the print data as shown in FIG. 7. Alternatively, a predetermined pattern may be directly sent to the printer engine 44 and printed on paper.

【0050】

When the desired image data is formed in the image memory 46, the memory controller 45 transfers the image data to the printer engine 44. The printer engine 44 prints on paper from the received image data.

【0051】

As described above, according to the fourth embodiment, the identification information (IP address) of the printer 4 connected to the network is automatically added to the print data when printing is performed inside the printer 4. In the event of unauthorized copying of confidential internal documents, forgery of bills, or forgery of money rights, this device can easily identify where it was printed and track it. This makes it possible to prevent the spread of confidential information.

【0052】

The duplication device of the present invention can be realized by software using a CPU and a DSP. It may also be realized by dedicated hardware.

【0053】

Of course, it can also be incorporated into database, distribution system, document exchange software such as e-mail, and document distribution software as confidential document management software.

【0054】

Further, it can be applied not only to still images but also to moving images, and can be applied to moving image data management.

【0055】

[Effect of the invention]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent unauthorized duplication of a manuscript, electronic data, etc. for which duplication is prohibited in advance and promptly.

【0056】

In addition, since information unique to the device or application is automatically added to the printed matter, it is possible to identify the device that illegally duplicated the printed matter and prevent the spread of confidential information.

[Simple explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1]

Block diagram of personal computer 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention [Figure 2]

Configuration diagram of the usage environment of the personal computer according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Fig. 3]

The figure which showed the storage information of the copy prohibition information 14 which is 1st Embodiment of this invention. [Fig. 4]

Block diagram of the print information analysis circuit 15 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Fig. 5]

Block diagram of the information addition circuit 18 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Fig. 6]

Block diagram of printer 2 according to the third embodiment of the present invention [Fig. 7]

Explanatory drawing of print data 261 which is a 3rd Embodiment of this invention [Fig. 8]

Block diagram of printer 4 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention [Fig. 9]

Block diagram of a conventional color copier [Explanation of symbols]

1 personal computer 2 printer 3 scanner 4 network printer 5 network scanner 11 Print data 12 Printer driver 13 Information update circuit 14 Copy prohibited information 15 Print information analysis circuit 16 Confirmation memory 18 Information addition circuit 18a CPU identification information 18b Application registration information 18c hardware information 21 Receive buffer 22 Command analysis circuit 23 Graphic / character drawing circuit 24 printer engine 25 memory controller 26 image memory 27 Image drawing circuit 28 Print information analysis circuit 29 Copy prohibited information 41 Network interface 42 Command analysis circuit 43 Graphic / character drawing circuit 44 printer engine 45 memory controller 46 image memory 47 Image drawing circuit 80 Specific information additional circuit 81 Information registration circuit 91 CPU 92 application 93 network interface 100 networks 210 information card 222 Identification information 223 IP address 261 Print data 1000 specific information code