Methods of payment for internet programming
First Claim
1. A system of payment for the receipt of programming by a user where the programming is delivered by means of a data network, the system comprising:
- a playtime account assigned by a network operator to at least one of a user and a device, the playtime account containing playtime credits that serve at least partially to pay for receipt of programming;
playtime credits being added to the playtime account as activities attributed to the user that are beneficial to the network operator occur, the activities being prompted by the network operator in response to the receipt of programming by the user.
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Accused Products
Abstract
User selectable methods are disclosed for paying for programming provided in association with an affiliate network operator. A playtime account is assigned to a user, a tuner or a device to track the cost of programming used and payments to cover the cost thereof. Use of a tuner causes depletion in value of the playtime account. Various means of payment are disclosed including audio/video commercials within the programming, email ads delivered in a separate time and space or situation from the programming, benefits for purchases and survey responses, and subscription fees. A user may select a level of identity in receiving advertising, including anonymous receipt of programming, resulting in a user selectable level of ad targeting. A feature of the invention is to acknowledge the value of a user disclosed identity and to compensate the user in proportion to that disclosure with predictably valuable programming services. In contrast with prior art email advertising, a user is specifically compensated with services for receiving email ads. A higher identity level allows higher value targeted ads to be sent to pay for programming, whereby an ad multiplier enhances the value of additions to the playtime account. Fewer ads are thus required with the ad multiplier enabled by targeted ads. For email ads programming may be entirely commercial-free since the ads are not received as a component of the programming. The payment methods of the invention may be used in combination either by request or by default. The playtime account is used to track debits and credits.
99 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A system of payment for the receipt of programming by a user where the programming is delivered by means of a data network, the system comprising:
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a playtime account assigned by a network operator to at least one of a user and a device, the playtime account containing playtime credits that serve at least partially to pay for receipt of programming;
playtime credits being added to the playtime account as activities attributed to the user that are beneficial to the network operator occur, the activities being prompted by the network operator in response to the receipt of programming by the user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system of payment for the receipt of programming by a user where the programming is delivered by means of a data network, the system comprising:
commercial advertising sent to the user, where a quantity of advertising that is sent to the user with respect to a quantity of programming that is received by the user decreases in proportion to an extent to which the user selects to be identified to a network operator. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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17. A method of payment for the receipt of programming by a user where the programming is delivered by means of a data network, the method comprising:
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a user being offered an opportunity to elect to receive advertising that benefits a network operator, the advertising being in the form of email messages sent to an email account of the user;
the network operator promising that in return for the user receiving the email messages, the user will be entitled access to well identified programming services including at least one play-list of an established value;
the user receiving the email messages in response to a user'"'"'s request to access programming services. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification