To solve a trouble of communication caused by false recognition of stream transfer rate without occurrence of bus reset.

When DVHS 2 outputs no stream even though DTV 1 sets connection with transfer rate S400 to the DVHS 2 and requests output of stream thereto, the DTV 1 determines that the DVHS 2 may falsely recognize the transfer rate of DTV 1, and performs reconnection with a reduced transfer rate. When the connection with transfer rate S400 is set, connection with S200 is newly set, and the DTV 1 manages the transfer rate of the DVHS 2 as S200. The present invention can be applied to a television receiver which performs transfer of stream through IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 1394 network.