INTERNET SETTLEMENT SYSTEM
10 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for collecting information about an event in which a user accesses the Internet through the system of a first Internet Service Provider with whom the user does not have an account. The apparatus includes a first server that creates a record of the user'"'"'s Internet usage and sends the record to a second server. The second server collects records from a plurality of Internet Service Providers and forwards the records to a third server on a regular basis. The third server processes the data in the plurality of records and generates a report showing how much money the first Internet Service Provider is owed for allowing the user to access the Internet through the system of the first Internet Service Provider.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1-17. -17. (canceled)
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18. A system comprising:
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a routing server comprising;
a collection module to receive accounting records of a user'"'"'s Internet connection service usage of a network of the local Internet service provider, the local Internet service provider operated independently from a home Internet service provider of the user, the user not having an account with the local Internet service provider but having an account with the home Internet service provider and connecting to the Internet via the local Internet service provider; and
a settlement server comprising;
a loader to receive and collect the accounting records from the routing server for a period of time; and
a report module to generate a report of service usage for the period of time and to transmit the report of service usage to the home Internet service provider over the Internet. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. An apparatus comprising:
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a loader to receive from a local Internet service provider over the Internet accounting records of a user'"'"'s Internet connection service usage of a network of the local Internet service provider, the local Internet service provider operated independently from a home Internet service provider of the user, the user not having an account with the local Internet service provider but having an account with the home Internet service provider and connecting to the Internet via the local Internet service provider;
a reporting module, coupled to the loader, to generate reports from the accounting records to be sent to the home Internet service provider over the Internet. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. A method comprising:
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receiving accounting records of a user'"'"'s Internet connection service usage of a network of a local Internet service provider from the local Internet service provider, the local Internet service provider operated independently from a home Internet service provider of the user, the user not having an account with the local Internet service provider but having an account with the home Internet service provider and connecting to the Internet via the local Internet service provider;
generating a report of service usage by the user from the accounting records; and
transmitting the report of service usage to the home Internet service provider over the Internet. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 37)
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35. A machine-readable medium comprising instructions, which when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:
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receive accounting records of a user'"'"'s Internet connection service usage of a network of a local Internet service provider from the local Internet service provider, the local Internet service provider operated independently from a home Internet service provider of the user, the user not having an account with the local Internet service provider but having an account with the home Internet service provider and connecting to the Internet via the local Internet service provider;
generate a report of service by the user from the accounting records; and
transmit the report of service usage to the home Internet service provider over the Internet. - View Dependent Claims (36)
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Specification