Information recording medium and method for recording and reproducing information to a medium to prevent unauthorized copying

An information recording medium capable of rewriting information by a recording operation and an erasing operation, comprising:

• plural unit areas composed of a plurality of bits on an information recording area,
• wherein in the information recording area,
• a key information recorded by the arrangement of a first unit area(s) where information cannot be recorded normally and a second unit area(s) where information can be recorded normally;
• address information showing the address of an area where the key information is recorded;
• and
• a judging program having a step of reading out the address information to effect an erasing operation on the area where the key information is recorded, a step of reproducing the area where the erasing operation is effected, and a step of judging whether or not reproduction is effected normally in each unit area to correspond to binary values the result of whether or not normal reproduction is effected,
• are recorded.

An information recording medium capable of rewriting information by a recording operation and an erasing operation, comprising:

• plural unit areas composed of a plurality of bits on an information recording area,
• wherein in the information recording area,
• a key information recorded by the arrangement of a first unit area(s) where information cannot be recorded normally and a second unit area(s) where information can be recorded normally;
• address information showing the address of an area where the key information is recorded;
• and
• a judging program having a step of reading out the address information to effect an erasing operation on the area where the key information is recorded, a step of recording the predetermined information in the area where the erasing operation is effected, a step of reproducing the area where the predetermined information is recorded, and a step of judging whether or not reproduction is effected normally in each unit area to correspond to binary values the result of whether or not normal reproduction is effected,
• are recorded.

A method of reproducing the information recording medium capable of rewriting information by a recording operation and an erasing operation, comprising the steps of:

• preparing an information recording medium where plural unit areas to be defined with addresses on an information recording area is provided with, a first unit area(s) where information cannot be recorded normally and a second unit area(s) where information can be recorded normally being formed on the unit areas, and a predetermined key information being recorded by the arrangement of the first unit area(s) and the second unit area(s);
• effecting an erasing operation on the area where the key information is recorded;
• reproducing the area upon which the erasing operation is effected;
• judging whether or not the reproduction is effected normally on each unit area;
• and
• deciding respectively whether it is the first unit area or the second unit area in accordance with the normal acceptability judgment.

A method of reproducing the information recording medium capable of rewriting information by a recording operation and an erasing operation, comprising the steps of:

• preparing an information recording medium where plural unit areas to be composed of a plurality of bits on an information recording area is provided, a medium firm information for the specific recording/reproducing control, and a key information indicating the existence of the medium firm information are recorded in the information recording area, with the key information being recorded by the arrangement between a first unit area(s) where information cannot be recorded normally and a second unit area(s) where information can be recorded normally;
• effecting the erasing operation on the area where the key information is recorded;
• reproducing the area where the erasing operation is effected;
• judging whether or not the reproduction is effected normally in each unit area;
• and
• deciding respectively whether it is the first unit area or the second unit area in accordance with the result of normal judgment.

A method of judging the truth of the information recording medium capable of rewriting information by a recording operation and an erasing operation, comprising the steps of:

• preparing an information recording medium where plural unit areas to be defined with addresses on an information recording area is provided with, a first unit area(s) where information cannot be recorded normally and a second unit area(s) where information can be recorded normally being formed on the unit areas, and a predetermined key information being recorded by the arrangement of the first unit area(s) and the second unit area(s);
• effecting an erasing operation on the area where the key information is recorded;
• reproducing the area upon which the erasing operation is effected;
• judging whether or not the reproduction is effected normally on each unit area to correspond to binary values the result of whether or not the normal reproduction is effected;
• judging the agreement between the information corresponding to the binary values and the information recorded in advance;
• and
• deciding the truth of the information recording medium in accordance with the result of the agreement judgment.

A method of judging the truth of the information recording medium capable of rewriting information by a recording operation and an erasing operation, comprising the steps of:

• preparing an information recording medium where plural unit areas to be composed of a plurality of bits on an information recording area is provided with, a medium firm information for the specific recording/reproducing control and a key information indicating the existence of the medium firm information being recorded in the information recording area, the key information being recorded by the arrangement between a first unit area(s) where information cannot be recorded normally and a second unit area(s) where information can be recorded normally;
• effecting the erasing operation on the area where the key information is recorded;
• reproducing the area upon which the erasing operation is effected;
• judging whether or not the reproduction is effected normally in each unit area to correspond to binary values the result of whether or not the normal reproduction is effected;
• judging the agreement between the information corresponding to the binary values and the information recorded in advance;
• and
• deciding the truth of the information recording medium in accordance with the result of the agreement judgment.

A recording/reproducing apparatus for effecting recording/reproducing processing in an information recording medium, comprising:

• a first memory part for storing original firm information for controlling the recording/reproducing of information;
• a judging part for judging the existence of a key information indicating the existence of the medium firm information for controlling the specific recording/reproducing in the information recording medium;
• a second memory part in which the medium firm information is read and stored when the information recording medium is judged to have the key information by the judging part;
• and
• an instructing part for instructing the switching of the original firm information and the medium firm information for the usage thereof.