System for obtaining fee-based data and services
First Claim
1. A method of enabling a user to obtain fee-based content over a network comprising:
- setting user-defined parameters to accept all fees below a predetermined amount;
displaying a first portion of content, from a content provider location, at a user location;
determining whether a second portion of content requires payment of a fee by the user;
displaying the second portion of content to the user when the fee for the second portion of content is accepted based on the user-defined parameters; and
accumulating a plurality of fees incurred by the user at a third party provider location, wherein the third party provider pays the content provider the amount of the fees incurred by the user and the user makes payment to the third party provider on a periodic basis.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method that enables a user to access content data over a network by retrieving information from a provider via the network. A determination is made whether the content data requires payment of a fee by the user. If the content data requires a fee, a determination is made whether payment for the content data has been pre-approved by user-defined parameters. If the fee has been pre-approved by the user, the user incurs a charge for the content data. The content data is displayed to the user and the fees are accumulated by a third party provider. The third party provides pays the content provider the amount of the accumulated fees and the user makes payment to the third party provider. The method and system is also used to provide payment of royalties for content retrieved from a network and to purchase items advertised over a network, such as the Internet.
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Citations
67 Claims
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1. A method of enabling a user to obtain fee-based content over a network comprising:
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setting user-defined parameters to accept all fees below a predetermined amount;
displaying a first portion of content, from a content provider location, at a user location;
determining whether a second portion of content requires payment of a fee by the user;
displaying the second portion of content to the user when the fee for the second portion of content is accepted based on the user-defined parameters; and
accumulating a plurality of fees incurred by the user at a third party provider location, wherein the third party provider pays the content provider the amount of the fees incurred by the user and the user makes payment to the third party provider on a periodic basis. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A system that enables a user to obtain fee-based content from a remote location comprising:
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a client information appliance, adapted to receive user-defined parameters relating to acceptance of fees, the client information appliance adapted to retrieve content from a remote location and display that content to a user at the client information appliance;
a content provider appliance, adapted to provide content to one or more client information appliances, wherein the client information appliance retrieves a portion of content from a remote location and determines whether additional content is desired such that if a fee for the additional content does not exceed a predetermined amount, the additional content is retrieved; and
a payment appliance, sponsored by a third party provider, the payment appliance adapted to accumulate fees incurred by the user and to remit payment to the content provider and the user pays the third party provider on a periodic basis. - View Dependent Claims (4)
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5. A method for enabling a user to access content over a network comprising:
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establishing user-defined settings that authorize payment of all fees that do not exceed a predetermined amount;
requesting content from a content provider via the network;
determining whether the content requires payment of a fee by the user;
determining whether payment for the content has been authorized by the user-defined settings, wherein if the payment has been authorized, the user incurs a fee for the content;
displaying the content to the user; and
accumulating, at a third party provider, a plurality of fees, wherein the third party provider pays the content provider the amount of the accumulated fees. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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9. The method of Clam 5, further comprising setting the user-defined settings to accept fees for requested content from particular content providers without prompting the user.
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33. A system that enables a user to access fee-based content from a remote location comprising:
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a client information appliance, adapted to receive user-defined settings regarding acceptance of fees, the client information appliance adapted to retrieve content to a user from a remote location;
a content provider appliance, sponsored by a content provider, the content provider appliance adapted to provide content to one or more client information appliances, wherein the client information appliance determines whether the retrieved content requires payment of a fee and if so, determines whether the content has been pre-approved. by user-defined settings; and
a payment appliance adapted to accumulate fees incurred by a user and to remit payment to the content provider based on the accumulated fees. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 60)
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58. A method of providing payment of royalties for fee-based content over a network comprising:
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selecting desired content data from a provider;
retrieving a first portion of the selected content data at a user location, the first portion of the selected content data provided without a fee;
determining whether a second portion of the selected content data is desired, the second portion of the selected content data having an associated fee, wherein when the second portion of the selected content data is retrieved, the associated fee is calculated, a portion of which includes a royalty;
paying the royalty portion of the fee on a periodic;
basis; and
paying a content portion of the fee to the content provider on a periodic basis.
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61. A system for providing payment of royalties comprising:
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a client information appliance, adapted to retrieve content to a user from a remote location;
a content provider appliance, adapted to provide content from a content provider to one or more client information appliances, wherein the client information appliance retrieves a portion of content from a remote location and determines whether additional content is desired and if so retrieves the additional content; and
a payment appliance, adapted to accumulate fees incurred by a user and to remit payment to the content provider and to remit a royalty payment. - View Dependent Claims (62)
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63. A method for enabling a user to access content data and purchase items and/or services over a network comprising:
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pre-authorizing a first amount for payment of content data by inputting user-defined parameters;
pre-authorizing a second amount for payment of items and/or services by the user-defined parameters;
retrieving content from a content provider, to a user location, via the network;
determining whether payment for the content has been pre-authorized by the user-defined parameters, wherein if the content has been pre-authorized, the user incurs a fee for the content;
displaying content data to the user, the content data including one or more items and/or services;
accumulating a one or more content-related fees incurred by the user at a third party provider;
selecting an item and/or service that has an associated fee; and
determining whether payment for the item and/or service has been pre-authorized by the user-defined parameters, wherein if payment for the item and/or service has been pre-authorized, the user incurs an associated fee, wherein the third party provider pays the content provider the amount of the accumulated fees and the user makes payment to the third party provider. - View Dependent Claims (64, 65)
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66. A system for enabling a user to access content data and purchase items and/or services over a network comprising:
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a client information appliance adapted to receive inputs that pre-authorize a first amount for payment of content data, and receives inputs that pre-authorize a second amount for payment of items and/or services, the client information appliance adapted to retrieve data from a remote location and determine a fee associated with the content and items, wherein the user selects content, and if the fee for the selected content does not exceed the pre-authorized first amount, the content is displayed at the client information appliance without prompting the user and wherein the user selects items and/or services, and it the fee for the selected items and/or services does not exceed the pre-authorized first amount, the items arid/or services are purchased without prompting the user;
a payment appliance, sponsored by a third party provider, that accumulates fees associated with content and items and/or services incurred by a user and remits payment to a provider of the content and items and/or services. - View Dependent Claims (67)
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Specification