Method and system for filtering website content
First Claim
1. A method for filtering content submitted by a user for dissemination over a communication forum, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) intercepting the content submitted by the user to the communication forum;
(b) preprocessing said intercepted content through a preprocessing subroutine to yield a modified content by reducing said intercepted content to its least common denominator;
(c) breaking said modified content down through a content breakdown subroutine into a plurality of strings of words, wherein each successive string of words drops the first word from the previous string of words;
(d) processing each of said plurality of strings of words through a recursive comparison subroutine to attempt to identify at least one undesirable term that matches a previously identified undesirable term stored in a secondary database of undesirable terms, wherein each of said previously identified undesirable terms is a word or a phrase; and
(e) when said at least one undesirable term is identified, blocking the content submitted by the user from appearing on the communication forum.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for filtering website content prevents undesirable words or phrases from appearing in website postings sent by website users. The invention intercepts all content submitted by the user, and processes the content before posting it on the website. Intercepted content is first processed through a blocking subroutine, which first calls a preprocessing subroutine and then calls a content breakdown subroutine. The content breakdown subroutine utilizes a recursive comparison subroutine to identify undesirable words or phrases against previously identified words or phrases stored in a database. Options may be set in the system to replace the inappropriate content with acceptable content and then post the message or block the message entirely. The user may or may not be notified that their message has been blocked or replaced. The program then calls a matching subroutine for further processing of the intercepted content.
67 Citations
53 Claims
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1. A method for filtering content submitted by a user for dissemination over a communication forum, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) intercepting the content submitted by the user to the communication forum;
(b) preprocessing said intercepted content through a preprocessing subroutine to yield a modified content by reducing said intercepted content to its least common denominator;
(c) breaking said modified content down through a content breakdown subroutine into a plurality of strings of words, wherein each successive string of words drops the first word from the previous string of words;
(d) processing each of said plurality of strings of words through a recursive comparison subroutine to attempt to identify at least one undesirable term that matches a previously identified undesirable term stored in a secondary database of undesirable terms, wherein each of said previously identified undesirable terms is a word or a phrase; and
(e) when said at least one undesirable term is identified, blocking the content submitted by the user from appearing on the communication forum. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A system for filtering content submitted by a user for dissemination over a communication forum, the system comprising:
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a software program for intercepting the content submitted by a user through an input device for dissemination over a communication forum;
a blocking subroutine of said software program for filtering said intercepted content;
a preprocessing subroutine of said software program for preprocessing said intercepted content to yield a modified content which reduces said intercepted content to its least common denominator;
a content breakdown subroutine of said software program for breaking said modified content down into a plurality of strings of words, wherein each successive string of words drops the first word from the previous string of words;
a secondary database of undesirable terms accessed by said software program, wherein a list of previously identified undesirable terms are stored, and further wherein each of said previously identified undesirable terms is a word or a phrase; and
a recursive comparison subroutine of said software program for processing recursively each of said plurality of strings of words to identify at least one undesirable term that matches a one of said previously identified undesirable terms stored in said secondary databse of undesirable terms;
wherein when said at least one undesirable term is identified, said blocking subroutine blocks the content submitted by the user from appearing on the communication forum. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A computer readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for filtering content submitted by a user for dissemination over a communication forum, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) intercepting the content submitted by the user to the communication forum;
(b) preprocessing said intercepted content through a preprocessing subroutine to yield a modified content by reducing said intercepted content to its least common denominator;
(c) breaking said modified content down through a content breakdown subroutine into a plurality of strings of words, wherein each successive string of words drops the first word from the previous string of words;
(d) processing each of said plurality of strings of words through a recursive comparison subroutine to attempt to identify at least one undesirable term that matches a previously identified undesirable term stored in a secondary database of undesirable terms, wherein each of said previously identified undesirable terms is a word or a phrase; and
(e) when said at least one undesirable term is identified, blocking the content submitted by the user from appearing on the communication forum. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53)
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Specification