An image sharing server and a printer for carrying out a printing service in
association
with the image sharing server are prepared and planners are invited to develop
planned pages on the image sharing server. Contribution of images from general
users is accepted through registered planned pages, and a service for offering
contributed images for pay (ordered printing, downloading, etc.) is developed.
A manager of the image sharing server performs centralized management including
carrying out services and collecting charges for the services. Instances of use
of each service is totalized with respect to each planned page and with respect
to each contributor, and portions of a profit made by offering the service are
respectively returned to the corresponding planner and contributor. Each planner
and each contributor are periodically notified of the totalization results. Thus,
a system is provided in which each service planner can easily develop its original
planned page without holding a individual data base server and a Web server of
its own, and portions of a profit made by offering planned pages are respectively
returned to the planner and contributors. Also, the manager of operations for the
services in this system prepares a portal site server, a gallery provision server,
a photograph storage server and a printing service provider on the Internet and
invites contents providers to utilize the system. The printing service provider
collects orders accepted through planned pages from users, performs printing according
to the orders, and delivers finished prints to the users. In this system, a portal
site service, a gallery provision service, a photograph storage service and page
making GUI components provision service are offered to assist opening of a gallery
page. Thus, finely divided functions and services for exhibiting contents such
as photographs on the network are provided, thereby enabling each contents holder
to easily develop a galley site.