Signal processing circuit, content control apparatus, content control method and recording medium in or on which content control program is stored

摘要

A signal processing circuit and apparatus is disclosed which can prevent illegal utilization of content data with a higher degree of certainty. A hardware module controls utilization of content data based on right information of the content data. A nonvolatile memory stores a first check value for checking the compatibility of an apparatus identifier transferred from an apparatus in which the hardware module is incorporated and a second check value for checking the compatibility of the right information of the content data. The hardware module checks the compatibility of the transferred apparatus identifier based on the apparatus identifier and the first check value, checks the compatibility of the right information in response to the right information and the second check value and controls the utilization of the content data based on the right information in response to results of the checks.