Program distribution system, method of program distribution, transmitter and receiver

A method of distributing programs, said method comprising:

• receiving, at a transmitter, a distribution request e-mail message from a receiver, the distribution request e-mail message being addressed to a distribution controller of the transmitter and including a user request for a desired program, the user request being in a free style text format;
• determining whether the requested program is one of a stored plurality of distributable programs;
• transmitting an answer e-mail message to the receiver in response to the distribution request e-mail message, the answer e-mail message including a notice of correspondence and including supplemental information when the requested program is one of the stored plurality of distributable programs, the supplemental information including cryptanalytic information for decrypting the program;
• reading out the requested program when the requested program is one of the stored plurality of distributable programs;
• and
• distributing the requested program to the receiver.

A transmitter, comprising:

• a distributable program storing unit operable to store a plurality of distributable programs;
• a distribution controller operable to receive a distribution request e-mail message addressed to said distribution controller from a receiver, the distribution request e-mail message including a user request for a desired program, the user request being in a free style text format, to determine whether the requested program is one of the stored plurality of distributable programs, to transmit an answer e-mail message to the receiver in response to the distribution request e-mail message, the answer e-mail message including a notice of correspondence and including supplemental information when the requested program is one of the stored plurality of distributable programs, the supplemental information including cryptanalytic information for decrypting the program, and to read out the requested program from said distributable program storing unit when the requested program is one of the stored plurality of distributable programs;
• and
• a distributor operable to distribute the requested program to the receiver.

A method of receiving programs, said method comprising:

• accepting a user request for a desired program, the user request being in a free style text format;
• converting the user request into a distribution request e-mail message that includes the user request and that is addressed to a distribution controller of a predefined distribution unit;
• sending the distribution request e-mail message to the predetermined distribution unit;
• receiving an answer e-mail message from the predetermined distribution unit in response to the distribution request e-mail message, the answer e-mail message including a notice of correspondence and including supplemental information when the requested program is one of the stored plurality of distributable programs, the supplemental information including cryptanalytic information for decrypting the program;
• and
• receiving the requested program from the predetermined distribution unit when the requested program is available from the predetermined distribution unit.