Communication apparatus, a communication system and a communication method

A communication method, comprising:

• a certification step of certifying a requesting person who requests to participate in mutual communication activities;
• a determination step of accepting a request to participate in the mutual communication activities and determining whether the request to participate is approved or rejected, wherein a determination is made as to whether a request by a requesting person certified in said certification step is approved or rejected in said determination step,
• wherein said determination step searches a list, which is prepared in advance for the requesting person, and, therewith, a user determines whether or not the request to participate is approved, and
• wherein said determination step includes:
• i) an automatic rejection determination step of automatically deciding, in consonance with the list that is prepared in advance, whether participation by the requesting person is inappropriate;
• ii) an automatic permission determination step of automatically deciding, in consonance with another list that is prepared in advance, whether or not participation by the requesting person is appropriate;
• and iii) a participation determination step of, when a requesting person is not found on either of the lists, displaying an identity of the requesting person and, in consonance with input data indicating an approval or a rejection of the request to participate, determining whether participation by the requesting person is permitted or is denied;
• an input/output step of performing, using a predetermined program, an input/output operation from an external communication apparatus;
• and
• a permission setting step of, in consonance with a decision to approve a request to participate made in said determination step, setting that a requesting person who submitted the request to participate is permitted to perform input/output operations using the predetermined program.

A computer-readable memory storing a program for implementing a communication method, the program comprising:

• program code for a certification step of certifying a requesting person who requests to participate in mutual communication activities;
• program code for an determination step of accepting a request to participate in mutual communication activities and determining whether the request to participate is approved or rejected, wherein a determination is made as to whether a request by a requesting person certified in the certification step is approved or rejected in the determination step,
• wherein the determination step searches a list, which is prepared in advance for the requesting person, and, therewith, a user determines whether or not the request to participate is approved, and
• wherein the determination step includes:
• i) an automatic rejection determination step of automatically deciding, in consonance with the list that is prepared in advance, whether participation by the requesting person is inappropriate;
• ii) an automatic permission determination step of automatically deciding, in consonance with another list that is prepared in advance, whether or not participation by the requesting person is appropriate;
• and iii) a participation determination step of, when a requesting person is not found on either of the lists, displaying an identity of the requesting person and, in consonance with input data indicating an approval or a rejection of the request to participate, determining whether participation by the requesting person is permitted or is denied;
• program code for an input/output step of performing, using a predetermined program, an input/output operation from an external communication apparatus;
• and
• program code for a permission setting step of setting, in consonance with a decision to approve a request to participate, that a requesting person who submitted the request to participate is permitted to perform input/output operations using the predetermined program.