The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for information processing, a recording medium, and a program that can provide newest functions in a plurality of applications. A PC 1 reads a UD information file 14 including functional generation information of a setup program 13 from a loaded optical disk 3, and obtains a UD information file 16 including functional generation information of a setup program 15 registered in a server 4 via a network 2. Then, the PC 1 compares the functional generation information of the UD information file 14 on the optical disk 3, the UD information file 16 of the server 4, and a UD information registry 12, and updates an application program 11 and the UD information registry 12 using the setup program corresponding to the newest functional generation. The present invention is applicable to an information providing system that provides music content distribution service having a copyright managing function via a network.