Method and apparatus for providing content access controls to access the internet
First Claim
1. A method of controlling access to the Internet, the method comprising:
- sending identification information for a user from a client computer to an Internet access control web server;
receiving user web access settings from the Internet access control web server at the client computer, wherein the user web access settings comprise a level of access allowed for the user in at least one category of content;
intercepting an Internet access request initiated by an application used at the client computer by the user;
extracting a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) from the Internet access request at the client computer;
sending the URL to the Internet access control web server from the client computer;
receiving URL ratings from the Internet access control web server at the client computer, wherein the URL ratings comprise a rating level in at least one category of content;
comparing the URL ratings to the user web access settings at the client computer; and
determining if access to the URL should be granted.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An Internet access control system is defined using a client-server architecture. The computer program installed on the client computer validates/identifies the user and user specific information is passed to the client computer. All user requests to access the Internet are intercepted by an application executing on the client computer. The URL extracted from the internet access request is sent to the Internet access control web server to determine if the URL is in a master list of previously evaluated websites. If the URL is found, the website ratings and subject matter categories are sent to the client computer for determination of whether or not the website contains information appropriate for the user attempting to access the Internet using web access settings defined by, for example, a parent or employer. If the URL is determined to be appropriate, the Internet access request is sent to the computer networking layer to which the request was originally routed; otherwise, the Internet access request is edited and is sent to the computer networking layer to which the request was originally routed for redirection of the transmission request.
-
Citations
90 Claims
-
1. A method of controlling access to the Internet, the method comprising:
-
sending identification information for a user from a client computer to an Internet access control web server;
receiving user web access settings from the Internet access control web server at the client computer, wherein the user web access settings comprise a level of access allowed for the user in at least one category of content;
intercepting an Internet access request initiated by an application used at the client computer by the user;
extracting a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) from the Internet access request at the client computer;
sending the URL to the Internet access control web server from the client computer;
receiving URL ratings from the Internet access control web server at the client computer, wherein the URL ratings comprise a rating level in at least one category of content;
comparing the URL ratings to the user web access settings at the client computer; and
determining if access to the URL should be granted. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
-
-
6. The method of claim 6, further comprising:
-
storing the URL in a cache at the client computer;
storing the URL in the cache as disallowed, if access is not granted;
storing the URL in the cache as allowed, if access is granted;
intercepting an additional Internet access request initiated by an application used at the client computer by the user;
extracting an additional URL from the additional Internet access request at the client computer;
comparing the additional URL to each URL in the cache until the additional URL matches a URL stored in the cache or until the additional URL has been compared to each URL in the cache;
sending the Internet access request to the client computer networking layer, if the additional URL matches a URL stored in the cache that was stored as allowed;
editing the additional Internet access request to remove the additional URL and to include the user appropriate URL, if the additional URL matches a URL stored in the cache that was stored as disallowed;
sending the edited additional Internet access request to the client computer networking layer, if the additional URL matches a URL stored in the cache that was stored as disallowed; and
clearing the cache when the user logs out from the Internet access control system at the client computer.
-
-
22. A method of controlling access to the Internet, the method comprising:
-
receiving identification information for a user from a client computer at a Internet access control web server;
sending user web access settings from the Internet access control web server to the client computer, wherein the user web access settings comprise a level of access allowed for the user in at least one category of content;
receiving a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) from the client computer at the Internet access control web server, wherein the URL was extracted from an Internet access request at the client computer;
sending URL ratings from the Internet access control web server to the client computer, wherein the URL ratings comprise a rating level in at least one category of content that is capable of being compared to the user web access settings. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
-
-
39. A system for controlling access to the Internet, the system comprising:
-
a client comprising;
a user authentication interface that prompts a user for identification information;
a communication manager configured to;
send the identification information to an Internet access control web server, receive user web access settings from the Internet access control web server, wherein the user web access settings comprise a level of access allowed for the user in at least one category of content, intercept an Internet access request initiated by an application used at the client computer by the user;
send a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) extracted from the Internet access request to the Internet access control web server, and receive URL ratings from the Internet access control web server, wherein the URL ratings comprise a rating level in at least one category of content; and
a logic module configured to;
compare the URL ratings to the user web access settings, and determine if access to the URL should be granted; and
the Internet access control web server comprising;
a login manager configured to;
receive the identification information;
verify the identification information, determine the user web access settings for the user that correspond to the identification information, and send the user web access settings to the client; and
a lookup manager configured to;
receive the URL, determine the URL ratings that correspond to the URL, and send the URL ratings to the client. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
-
-
70. A computer program product for controlling access to the Internet comprising:
computer code configured to;
prompt a user for identification information;
send the identification information to an Internet access control web server, receive user web access settings from the Internet access control web server, wherein the user web access settings comprise a level of access allowed for the user in at least one category of content, intercept an Internet access request initiated by an application used at the client computer by the user;
send a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) extracted from the Internet access request to the Internet access control web server, receive URL ratings from the Internet access control web server, wherein the URL ratings comprise a rating level in at least one category of content;
compare the URL ratings to the user web access settings, and determine if access to the URL should be granted. - View Dependent Claims (71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90)
Specification