Providing licensed content to a user | Patent Publication Number 20120046957
US 20120046957 A1Brian J. Cragun
When a user requests licensed content, a dynamic licensing mechanism automatically requests and receives licenses for the licensed content when one or more criterion in a licensing policy is satisfied by license information relating to the content, without the user providing any further input to acquire the licenses.
- 1. An apparatus comprising:nat least one processor;a memory coupled to the at least one processor;a browser residing in the memory and executed by the at least one processor that provides an interface for a user to request licensed content;a licensing policy residing in the memory and defined by the user that specifies at least one criterion for automatically acquiring at least one license; anda dynamic licensing mechanism that requests the licensed content from a content provider in response to the user requesting the licensed content via the browser, queries the content provider for license information for the licensed content that specifies at least one available license for the licensed content, and when the license information satisfies the at least one criterion in the licensing policy, the dynamic licensing mechanism acquires a license for the licensed content without requiring further input from the user, allowing the user to received the licensed content.
- 9. A computer-implemented method for a user to receive licensed content from at least one content provider, the method comprising the steps of:nproviding at least one processor;providing a memory coupled to the at least one processor;the at least one processor performing the steps of:na user defining a license policy that specifies at least one criterion for automatically acquiring at least one license;receiving a request from the user for the licensed content;sending the request for the licensed content to the at least one content provider;querying the at least one content provider for license information for the licensed content;determining when the license information satisfies the at least one criterion in the licensing policy, and in response, acquiring a license for the licensed content without requiring further input from the user; andthe user receiving the licensed content from the at least one content provider.
- 17. A computer-implemented method for a user to receive content from a content provider, the method comprising the steps of:nproviding at least one processor;providing a memory coupled to the at least one processor, the memory including the integrated circuit design;the at least one processor performing the steps of:na user defining a license policy that specifies criteria for automatically acquiring at least one license, the criteria including maximum cost for a licensed object, maximum cost per document that includes the licensed object, and maximum cost per time period for the user;receiving a request from the user for a document;sending the request for the document to the content provider;when all objects in the document are unlicensed, rendering the document to the user;when at least one object in the document is a licensed object, determining when the user has an existing license for the licensed object, and in response, rendering the document to the user;when the user does not have an existing license for the licensed object, performing the steps of:nquerying the content provider for license information for the licensed object, the license information including price for the licensed object;determining when the price for the licensed object in the license information is less than the maximum cost for the licensed object specified in the license policy, when the price for the document is less than the maximum cost per document specified in the license policy, and when the price for the document does not cause the maximum cost per time period for the user specified in the license policy to be exceeded, and in response, acquiring a license for the licensed content without requiring further input from the user, and the user receiving the document including the licensed object;determining when the price for the licensed object in the license information is less than the maximum cost for the licensed object specified in the license policy and when the price for the document is more than the maximum cost per document specified in the license policy, rendering a partial document to the user that does not include the licensed object;determining when the price for the licensed object in the license information is less than the maximum cost for the licensed object specified in the license policy, when the price for the document is less than the maximum cost per document specified in the license policy, and when the price for the document causes the maximum cost per time period for the user specified in the license policy to be exceeded, and in response, rendering a partial document to the user that does not include the licensed object; anddetermining when the price for the licensed object in the license information is more than the maximum cost for the licensed object specified in the license policy, and in response, prompting the user for authorization, and when the user authorizes, acquiring a license for the licensed content and rendering the document including the licensed object to the user, and when the user does not authorize, rendering a partial document to the user that does not include the licensed object.
- 18. An article of manufacture comprising software stored on recordable media, the software comprising:na dynamic licensing mechanism that requests licensed content from a content provider in response to a user requesting the licensed content via a browser, queries the content provider for license information for the licensed content that specifies at least one available license for the licensed content, and when the license information satisfies at least one criterion in a licensing policy defined by the user for automatically acquiring at least one license, the dynamic licensing mechanism acquires a license for the licensed content without requiring further input from the user, allowing the user to received the licensed content.
1. Technical Field
This disclosure generally relates to a system for providing content to a user, and more specifically relates to a system for providing licensed content to a user.
2. Background Art
Computers are very useful for storing and retrieving information. The popularity of the Internet has changed how many people live due to the large amount of information that is readily available on virtually any subject of interest. For example, many people when confronted with medical symptoms will first search online for information regarding the symptoms and recommended courses of treatment before consulting their doctor. In addition, many people have changed how they receive their news. Where a person a generation ago would get their news from a daily newspaper and the evening news program on television, more and more people choose to receive their news online.
The widespread popularity of the Internet has given rise to the need to deliver licensed content to users upon request. The term “licensed content†as used herein is any content that requires the user to do something in exchange for receiving the content. One form of licensed content is paid content. For example, many web sites provide content in exchange for the user paying a fee. If a user pays the fee, the user may then access the information on the website. Another form of licensed content is free content that is provided in exchange for the user agreeing to certain conditions. For example, the user might be required to enter his or her e-mail address in order to access the licensed free content. In the alternative, the user may be required to agree to view advertisements in order to access the licensed free content. Yet another form of licensed content is content provided by one web site when the user is a paid subscriber to a different partner web site. Of course, there are many other possibilities for licensed content. The disclosure and claims herein expressly extend to any suitable form of licensed content that is provided to the user upon the user satisfying one or more conditions, whether the licensed content is currently known or developed in the future.
Some web sites and other content providers now provide licensed content from a number of different sources. This complicates the process of providing the content to a user because the content provider must check to see if the user is licensed to receive the licensed content from each of the licensed sources. If the user is not licensed, the licensed content is not provided to the user. If the user is trying to access a document that includes licensed content from ten different content providers, and the user has a license for only two of those ten content providers, the user may become very frustrated at the inability to access the information from then non-licensed content providers, and may not know what steps to take, or even who is the provider of the missing content.
One possible way to mitigate the frustration of a user at receiving licensed content is to provide the licensed content on a per-object basis. However, users have historically shied away from per-object pricing, preferring a flat fee model. One reason for this is the uncertainty at the final cost of receiving the licensed content. A user may be willing to pay a higher flat fee instead of paying on a per-object basis so the user is certain of the charges. Without a way to automate the process for a user to obtain licensed content, the process for the user to access licensed content from multiple sources will be inefficient and frustrating for the user.
A dynamic licensing mechanism uses a licensing policy specified by a user. When a document requested by a user includes licensed content that the user is not licensed to receive, the dynamic licensing mechanism queries the content provider to determine license information regarding what licenses are available for the content the user is not licensed to receive. If the license information satisfies criteria specified in the licensing policy, the dynamic licensing mechanism automatically performs the steps required to receive a license to the content, which may include authorizing payment, sending the user's e-mail address or other information, etc., without any further interaction required by the user. When the dynamic licensing mechanism can successfully acquire a license for all content in the document because the available licenses satisfy the licensing policy, the content provider then provides the full document to the user with all its licensed content. When the dynamic licensing mechanism cannot successfully acquire a license for all content in the document because the available licenses do not satisfy the criteria in the licensing policy, the dynamic licensing mechanism may prompt the user with the information regarding what is required to access the licensed content. If the user authorizes to receive the licensed content that did not satisfy the licensing policy, the dynamic licensing policy acquires the needed license(s) and delivers the full document. If the user does not authorize to receive the licensed content that did not satisfy the licensing policy, the content provider may send to the user the document without the content that did not satisfy the licensing policy. In the alternative, the content provider may determine the user cannot receive any of the document because the user is not licensed to access all of the licensed content in the document.
The foregoing and other features and advantages will be apparent from the following more particular description, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
The disclosure will be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, where like designations denote like elements, and:
The claims and disclosure herein provide a dynamic licensing mechanism that determines license information for content requested by a user, determines whether the license information satisfies a licensing policy specified by the user, and if so, automatically acquires the license(s) for the content so the content may be delivered to the user by the content provider without the user having to take any action after requesting the document to obtain the license(s).
Referring to
Main memory 120 preferably contains data 121, an operating system 122, a browser 123, and a dynamic licensing mechanism 124. Data 121 represents any data that serves as input to or output from any program in computer system 100. Operating system 122 is a multitasking operating system. Browser 123 is a mechanism that may be used by a user to request content from a content provider. If the content is in the form of a web page, the browser 123 may be a known web browser, such as Microsoft Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome. Note, however, the term “browser†used herein broadly encompasses any mechanism that allows a user to request content from a content provider, whether currently known or developed in the future. Thus, an operating system on a mobile phone is considered a “browser†if the user can request licensed content using the mobile phone. The dynamic licensing mechanism 124 determines from a content provider the available licenses for content, and if the available licenses satisfy a licensing policy specified by the user, the dynamic licensing mechanism 124 can automatically acquire the needed license without input from the user after the initial request for the licensed content is made by the user. More details regarding the dynamic licensing mechanism are discussed below.
Computer system 100 utilizes well known virtual addressing mechanisms that allow the programs of computer system 100 to behave as if they only have access to a large, single storage entity instead of access to multiple, smaller storage entities such as main memory 120 and DASD device 155. Therefore, while data 121, operating system 122, browser 123, and dynamic licensing mechanism 124 are shown to reside in main memory 120, those skilled in the art will recognize that these items are not necessarily all completely contained in main memory 120 at the same time. It should also be noted that the term “memory†is used herein generically to refer to the entire virtual memory of computer system 100, and may include the virtual memory of other computer systems coupled to computer system 100.
Processor 110 may be constructed from one or more microprocessors and/or integrated circuits. Processor 110 executes program instructions stored in main memory 120. Main memory 120 stores programs and data that processor 110 may access. When computer system 100 starts up, processor 110 initially executes the program instructions that make up operating system 122.
Although computer system 100 is shown to contain only a single processor and a single system bus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that a dynamic licensing mechanism may be practiced using a computer system that has multiple processors and/or multiple buses. In addition, the interfaces that are used preferably each include separate, fully programmed microprocessors that are used to off-load compute-intensive processing from processor 110. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that these functions may be performed using I/O adapters as well.
Display interface 140 is used to directly connect one or more displays 165 to computer system 100. These displays 165, which may be non-intelligent (i.e., dumb) terminals or fully programmable workstations, are used to provide system administrators and users the ability to communicate with computer system 100. Note, however, that while display interface 140 is provided to support communication with one or more displays 165, computer system 100 does not necessarily require a display 165, because all needed interaction with users and other processes may occur via network interface 150.
Network interface 150 is used to connect computer system 100 to other computer systems or workstations 175 via network 170. Network interface 150 broadly represents any suitable way to interconnect electronic devices, regardless of whether the network 170 comprises present-day analog and/or digital techniques or via some networking mechanism of the future. Network interface 150 preferably includes a combination of hardware and software that allow communicating on the network 170. Software in the network interface 150 preferably includes a communication manager that manages communication with other computer systems 175 via network 170 using a suitable network protocol. Many different network protocols can be used to implement a network. These protocols are specialized computer programs that allow computers to communicate across a network. TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is an example of a suitable network protocol that may be used by the communication manager within the network interface 150.
As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,†“module†or “system.†Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.
Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.
Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C†programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
Referring to
The content provider 220 is typically a server computer system, and preferably includes unlicensed content 230 and licensed content 240. The licensed content 240 includes license information for each licensed content. Thus, for the simple example in
A simple example will illustrate how the browser 210 interacts with the content provider 220 in
Referring to
Referring to
The license information 410 may also include a price for a flat rate license 432. For example, a flat rate of $19.99 per month could license the user to receive a particular kind or set of content. The license information 434 may also include a price for a sliding scale license 434. For example, a particular content provider may offer content delivery at the rate of $0.25 per object, but may drop the price to $0.10 per object once a user retrieves a certain amount of content from the provider (e.g., 50 objects). The license information 410 may include preferred license information 436. For example, if the user already has a flat rate license with the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), when requesting technical information the user would like it to be retrieved from IEEE as opposed to utilizing other licenses (such as micropayment) from different providers that would incur a cost for the same content. The license information 410 may also include available discount information (step 438). Available discounts could be provided based on any suitable criteria. For example, the content provider could provide a discount based on the browser and its plugins. Thus, if the browser includes a plugin that limits copying of content, the user may be eligible for a discount. If the browser includes features for delivering content to a person who is visually-impaired, a discount might be available based on delivering non-visual content in a document and not delivering visual content such as images.
The sample license information 410 shown in
Referring to
The sample licensing policy 510 also includes a content substitution tradeoff 542. For example, if more than one version of content can be used in a document, the user may choose to select a less expensive version in order to keep costs for the document down. For example, if lower resolution images have a lower license fee, the user can select to utilize them when possible. Other substitutions may also apply such as monochromatic images, public stock photos, etc. The sample licensing policy 510 also includes a cost increase specification 544 that may specify a sliding scale for licensed content the user may want to retrieve. For example, what can the user see for $0.10, $0.25, or $1.00? The user can view a lower cost version first, and increase the fees to see more, incrementally. The sample licensing policy 510 also includes an available discounts specification 546. For example, if the user has impaired vision, the available discounts specification may specify to only deliver content when the content provider is willing not to charge for visual content, such as images.
The various criteria shown in the sample licensing policy 510 in
A specific example is now given to explain many of the concepts discussed above with reference to
License information for all the content in document A is shown at 710 in
The license information for Text008 includes a price per object of $0.05. The license information for Audio Clip 009 indicates a price per object of $0.05, and a price of a bulk license from Content Provider R at $10 per year. The license information for Audio Clip 010 indicates a price per object of $0.10, and a price of a bulk license from Content Provider S at $15 per year. The license information for Audio Clip 011 indicates a price per object f $0.07, and a price of a bulk license from Content Provider T at $25 per year. The license information for Link1 indicates a price per object from 9 AM to 6 PM of $0.10, and a price per object from 6 PM to 9 AM of $0.05. The license information for Link2 indicates a price per object of $0.15 and a price of a bulk license from Content Provider V at $12 per year. The license information for Link3 indicates the link is free.
Referring to
We assume for this example the User J requests Document A from the content provider at 5:30 PM. The dynamic licensing mechanism determines whether the license information in
For Text008, the price per object of $0.05 is less than the maximum cost per object of $0.10 at 820 in the licensing policy 810, so the dynamic licensing mechanism automatically authorizes payment of $0.05 to receive a license to receive Text008. For Audio Clip 009, the price per object of $0.05 is less than the maximum cost per object of $0.10 at 820 in the licensing policy 810, so the dynamic licensing mechanism automatically authorizes payment of $0.05 to receive a license to receive Audio Clip 009. For Audio Clip 010, the price per object of $0.10 satisfies the maximum cost per object of $0.10 at 820 in the licensing policy 810, so the dynamic licensing mechanism automatically authorizes payment of $0.10 to receive a license to receive Audio Clip 010. For Audio Clip 011, the price per object of $0.07 is less than the maximum cost per object of $0.10 at 820 in the licensing policy 810, so the dynamic licensing mechanism automatically authorizes payment of $0.07 to receive a license to receive Audio Clip 011. For Link1, because the time Document A was requested is 5:30 PM, the price per object of $0.10 satisfies the maximum cost per object of $0.10 at 820 in the licensing policy 810, so the dynamic licensing mechanism automatically authorizes payment of $0.10 to receive a license to receive Link1. For Link2, the price per object of $0.15 exceeds the maximum cost per object of $0.10 at 820 in the licensing policy 810, so the dynamic licensing mechanism does not acquire a license to receive Link2. For Link3, the license information indicates the link is free without conditions, so the user may either acquire a license to receive Link3, or the content provider can provide Link3 to all users because Link3 is free without conditions.
The resulting document 1000 that is rendered to User J is shown in
A summary of the charges to User J for receiving Document A are shown in the table in
While the specific example in the figures and discussed above shows a single content provider 220 providing a document that includes content from multiple content providers, the disclosure and claims herein expressly extend to the user receiving licensed content from multiple content providers at the same time. Thus, the various portions of Document A rendered to the user could be retrieved from the different content providers instead of from a single content provider.
One possible specific use for the dynamic licensing mechanism disclosed herein is for digital newspapers. Digital paper is well-known, and allows downloading text and images in a manner that remains on the digital paper after power is removed. A user could define a licensing policy that determines how much the user is willing to pay for content that is downloaded to the user's digital newspaper. When the user downloads information to the digital paper, the news provider would only provide the content to the digital paper that satisfies the licensing policy, and other content would not be downloaded to the digital paper. Another specific application is electronic readers or notepads that allows a user to receive information from content providers. Of course, another application is for a user to access a web page via a web browser on a computer. Yet another application is for a user to access licensed content on the user's mobile phone. Yet another application is for a user of a content management system to receive a document that includes licensed content from the repository of content managed by the content management system. The disclosure and claims herein extend to any suitable manner for a user to request licensed content from one or more content providers.
Yet another specific implementation for the dynamic licensing mechanism disclosed herein is for users that have special needs, such as those who are visually-impaired or hearing-impaired. For example, a user that is hearing-impaired could download a plugin for their browser that indicates the user does not need to receive audio content, and the user could also specify in the licensing policy not to authorize charges for any audio content. Content providers could then specifically target the hearing-impaired by recognizing the plugin that indicates the user is hearing-impaired, and providing discounts for content based on the plugin. Of course, the same functionality could be achieved by the user explicitly specifying preferences in the licensing policy, such as not paying for audio content.
Note the dynamic licensing mechanism may also include intelligence that helps to minimize cost for licensed content based on past use. For example, if the user has accessed 40 different objects for $0.10 each in the past week, the dynamic licensing mechanism may determine it will be more cost-beneficial in the long run to get a bulk license instead of paying per-object. In addition, the dynamic licensing mechanism could shop around to different content providers to see if identical or compatible content is available at a lower cost from a different content provider.
The licensing policy could also be specific to a user's role or interests. For example, one licensing policy for work and a different licensing policy for personal use could be defined with different criteria. In the alternative, a licensing policy could be defined for different areas of interest. Thus, a user might define one licensing policy for entertainment, and a different licensing policy for news. The disclosure and claims herein expressly extend to a user defining multiple licensing policies.
The dynamic licensing mechanism disclosed herein can automatically request and receive licenses for licensed content when one or more criterion in a licensing policy is satisfied by license information relating to the licensed content, without the user providing any further input to acquire the licenses. When the criteria in the licensing policy is not satisfied, the user may be prompted for authorization to obtain a license. If the user authorizes, the dynamic licensing mechanism then acquires the license. If the user does not authorize the acquisition of the license, the licensed content is not provided to the user.
One skilled in the art will appreciate that many variations are possible within the scope of the claims. Thus, while the disclosure is particularly shown and described above, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these and other changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the claims.