To reduce a load on a store side of an end user and to attain activation of a commercial world by a new distribution system by purchasing a merchandise image as digital information by way of a communication network from a dealer, who performs image-pickup of the merchandise and providing a image communication system for disposing this merchandise image with the end user.
When a user terminal equipment 5 receives a control signal for indicating that it is recognized as a standard user from a storage center device 3 after transmitting a user code, it transmits a retrieval condition of the image to the storage enter device 3. In response to this, the storage center device 3 transmits an image corresponding to the transmitted retrieval condition, and next, calculates charges including charge for the transmitted image, updates a user charge file (34k) and transmits it to the use terminal equipment 5. Then, the user terminal 5 has a display device (506) display the image transmitted from the storage center device 3 and, moreover, updates a charge accumulation file (509d), on the basis of the updated user charge file (34k) that is received from the storage center device 3.
KAWADA KAZUMASA
TAKAMURA HIDEKI
SATO YOSHIHIRO
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