US Patent 7243084 Information processing method and apparatus for billing

An information processing apparatus for receiving data, such as content data. During the time the content data is being downloaded by a terminal over a communication network, the volume of downloaded data being displayed is made smaller than the actual volume of the content data. When the download processing has substantially come to a close, the data volume is displayed to be 80% on a display unit. The user is able to interrupt the processing partway until the data volume indicating the completion of the downloading is displayed to be 80% on the display unit. After the downloading has come to a close, the operation of an interrupt button or of a power supply button is inhibited to enable reliable billing processing.