The encoded contents of a piece of delivered information is accompanied by
an applicable time data indicating a specific time period for authorizing
a particular mode of utilization. When a request for utilizing the
contents is issued in an information utilization apparatus, it determines
if the current time agrees with the time authorizing the requested
utilization by referring to the time data annexed to the encoded
contents. If the request is acceptable at the current time, a set of
processing steps is carried out for decoding the encoded contents and
other necessary operations. Thus, an information access control method
can be adapted to have flexibility in setting charges and access
requirements for the contents of information that can change the value
and the mode of utilization with time.