An image forming apparatus that cooperates with a management service and a blockchain service includes a generation unit that generates an embedded image from document information about a document, an acquisition unit that acquires an embedding setting for use in embedding the embedded image in the document, a printing unit that performs printing of the document with the embedded image embedded therein based on the embedding setting, and a registration unit that registers the document information with the blockchain service, wherein, while the embedding setting includes a setting for embedding a plurality of embedded images in the document and the printing unit outputs a printed product with a plurality of embedded images embedded therein, the registration unit registers the document information with the blockchain service in such a way as to prevent the document information from being registered in an overlapping manner in registering the document information.

An information processing apparatus includes a processor configured to: acquire first permission information indicative of an apparatus which a first user is permitted to use, permit the first user to use the information processing apparatus in a case where the first permission information indicates the information processing apparatus, and permit the first user to use the information processing apparatus in a case where the first permission information does not indicate the information processing apparatus and a second user having an attribute that is in a predetermined relationship with an attribute of the first user is permitted to use the information processing apparatus.

A system for exchanging secure and controlled messages between a first entity and a second entity is described. The system includes a data transport mechanism, software operating on one or more processors wherein said software allows for composing, saving, encrypting, decrypting, and streaming messages and associated message rights. The system includes an input means for the first entity and the second entity. To send a secure and controlled message, the sender composes a message and associated message rights, and makes the message along with the associated message rights available to the recipient. The system allows the recipient to receive message rights, and the system allows the recipient to receive message elements for display, if permitted by the message rights associated with the message elements.

An image reading apparatus includes a first communication device provided communicatively with a first information processing apparatus, a second communication device provided communicatively with a second information processing apparatus, and a processor to receive a setting for a transmission destination of an input image, prohibit transmission of the input image via a communication device different from a communication device provided communicatively with the transmission destination, and determine whether the communication device provided communicatively with the transmission destination is in a state physically communicable with a network or an information processing apparatus. The processor permits transmission of the input image via the communication device different from the communication device provided communicatively with the transmission destination when it is determined that the communication device provided communicatively with the transmission destination is not in a state physically communicable with the network or the information processing apparatus.

A camera has two or more color elements that are removable and replaceable. The color elements may include a lens, a color filter with a filter data interface, and an image sensor. A security processor includes a private key, firmware, and has storage room for one or more vegetation indices. The security processor securely decrypts, stores, and uses the indices. Firmware checks license terms and installed filters required in a selected index, and analyzes images based on a formula in the index, thresholds for the index value, and thresholds for an object's height above ground level. A positioning receiver (e.g. GPS) determines time and position, which the firmware uses for the license check and for the height AGL calculation. Differences in camera position allow determining a parallax calculation on correlated groups of pixels. The camera provides on-the-fly analysis, and tags and stores images for which alert conditions are met.

An information processing apparatus includes a processor configured to: acquire first permission information indicative of an apparatus which a first user is permitted to use, permit the first user to use the information processing apparatus in a case where the first permission information indicates the information processing apparatus, and permit the first user to use the information processing apparatus in a case where the first permission information does not indicate the information processing apparatus and a second user having an attribute that is in a predetermined relationship with an attribute of the first user is permitted to use the information processing apparatus.

In a case of a first function of carrying out a cooperative processing in accordance with an instruction from a user of a multifunction peripheral (10), the user is set as an execution user. In a case of a second function of carrying out a cooperative processing in accordance with an instruction from an application, a user instructed by the application is set as an execution user. Further, in a case where an execution user of a cooperative processing carried out using the first function and an execution user of a cooperative processing carried out using the second function are identical, use history information of the execution user is managed as use history information of a single user. This makes it possible to appropriately manage use history information of a cooperative processing.

A printed document client receives a first print stream for a soft copy document, determines whether one or more conditions for adding a graphical symbol to the printed document are satisfied, and when the one or more conditions for adding the graphical symbol to the printed document are satisfied, adds the graphical symbol to the first print stream to generate a second print stream that includes the graphical symbol, and outputs the second print stream to a printer so the graphical symbol is printed on the printed document corresponding to the soft copy document. The printed document can be a hard copy document or a soft copy document generated from the second print stream.

The present disclosure provides an image management method and apparatus, and a storage medium. The method includes: receiving a download request of a first client device for a first image, and verifying whether the first client device has a download authorization of the first image; in response to the first client device having the download authorization, adding an encryption mark to the first image by using identity information of the first client device to obtain a second image; generating a download identification code for uniquely identifying the second image, and storing the download identification code; and transmitting the second image to the first client device.

A system that incorporates teachings of the present disclosure may include, for example, a set-top-box (STB) having a controller to join a multicast group having an associated multicast address, wherein the multicast address is associated with a first content type of a plurality of content types, access encoded content associated with the first content type from the multicast address, wherein the encoded content is transmitted by at least one source associated with the multicast group to the multicast address, decode the accessed encoded content, and display the decoded content on a channel mapped to the multicast address. Other embodiments are disclosed.