Internet provider subscriber communications system

• US 20080082686A1
• Filed: 08/24/2007
• Published: 04/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/18/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Perftech Inc. (Perftech Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Perftech Inc. (Perftech Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Murphy, John, Donzis, Henry, Schmidt, Jonathan, Erey, Rodney, Donzis, Lewis
• Granted Patent: US 8,095,666 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/239
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/60 Network streaming of media packets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/2871 Implementation details of single intermediate entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/563 Data redirection of data network streams
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/564 Enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A system, method, and computer readable medium for communicating at least one real-time specially-composed bulletin message to at least one subscriber of a provider of Internet services, comprising a first device, and a second device communicably coupled to the first device, wherein the first device: accesses only subscriber upstream traffic to a destination web site requested by the subscriber, wherein the first device inter-connects between the at least one subscriber and the destination web site, identifies the at least one subscriber'"'"'s unique identification based on the accessed subscriber upstream traffic automatically provided by the subscriber, and provides the unique subscriber identification to the second device located at the provider of Internet services providing data services and management control to the first device, wherein the second device determines the subscriber associated with the unique subscriber identification, and if the specially-composed bulletin message for the subscriber is desired to be communicated: the second device sends policy information related to the data services and management control, to the first device, wherein the policy information includes an IP address of the subscriber'"'"'s device, and at least one of: the specially-composed bulletin message, a modification of the message to be performed for the IP address, a reference to the message, and a redirection to the message, the first device examines the accessed upstream traffic to determine if it is possible to send a redirection, wherein the examining occurs without modifying the accessed upstream traffic, and the first device sends the redirection if it is possible to do so.

Claims

1. A method for communicating at least one real-time specially-composed bulletin message to at least one subscriber of a provider of Internet services, comprising the steps of:

accessing, by a redirecting device, only subscriber upstream traffic to a destination web site requested by the subscriber, wherein the redirecting device inter-connects between the at least one subscriber and the destination web site;

identifying, by the redirecting device, the at least one subscriber'"'"'s unique identification based on the accessed subscriber upstream traffic automatically provided by the subscriber;

providing, by the redirecting device, the unique subscriber identification to a consolidating and management device located at the provider of Internet services providing data services and management control to the redirecting device;

determining, by the consolidating and management device, the subscriber associated with the unique subscriber identification, and if the specially-composed bulletin message for the subscriber is desired to be communicated;

sending, by the consolidating and management device, policy information related to the data services and management control, to the redirecting device, wherein the policy information includes an IP address of the subscriber'"'"'s device, and at least one of;

the specially-composed bulletin message, a modification of the message to be performed for the IP address, a reference to the message, and a redirection to the message;

examining, by the redirecting device, the accessed upstream traffic to determine if it is possible to send a redirection, wherein the examining occurs without modifying the accessed upstream traffic; and

forcing a delivery of the specially-composed message according to policies set by the provider of Internet services or the cable system operator irrespective of the subscriber'"'"'s intended destination;

if the specially-composed bulletin message for the subscriber is not desired when no policy is in force for the subscriber, allowing, by the redirecting device, a direct connection from the subscriber to the destination site to proceed normally, and sending, only by the destination site, downstream web traffic to the subscriber without forwarding the downstream web traffic through or by the redirecting device;

based on the policy information, sending to the subscriber by the redirecting device, the at least one of;

the specially-composed bulletin message, a modification of the message to be performed for the IP address, a reference to the message, and a redirection to the message; and

wherein the specially-composed bulletin message originates from the different destination site.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the bulletin message is an area within a window on the subscriber PC'"'"'s browser.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the bulletin message is a prompt provided on the subscriber PC.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the subscriber is a customer identification comprising at least one of an account number, a modem MAC address, or serial number.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the subscriber is a customer identification comprising a fixed identifier.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the subscriber is identified to belong to a defined group of subscribers and wherein the bulletin message is selectively sent to a pre-selected subscriber group.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the examining step further includes working through Web browsers irrespective of the World Wide Web destination sought by the subscriber.

8. The method of claim 7, further including the step of returning the subscriber to the original World Wide Web destination after the bulletin message has been transmitted.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the examining step is further adapted for working with multiple types of content.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the examining step is performed by a hardware device that can be simply connected at various points, in plurality, in a provider infrastructure.

11. The method of claim 10, further including a plurality of said hardware devices.

12. The method of claim 10, further including the step of providing optional fail-safe operation of each device such that failure does not disrupt other normal browsing and Internet activity of the subscriber but results only in an interruption of bulletin message delivery.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the examining step is provided by a software system installed on a computer system that is connected at various points, singly or in plurality, in a provider infrastructure.

14. The method of claim 13, further including a plurality of hardware devices, each including one of said software system.

15. The method of claim 13, further including the step of providing optional fail-safe operation of each device such that failure does not disrupt other normal browsing and Internet activity of the subscriber but results only in an interruption of bulletin message delivery.

16. The method of claim 1, further including the step of defining a specific policy for controlling selective transmission of bulletin messages to the subscriber.

17. The method of claim 16, further including the step of defining a policy that includes a Web URL or other page information.

18. The method of claim 16, further including the step of defining a policy that includes timing and frequency of delivery.

19. The method of claim 16, further including the step of defining a policy for activating the redirecting device to deliver a message in response to a selected subscriber activity.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the activity comprises a defined destination.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the activity comprises an amount of activity by the subscriber.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the activity comprises a request carrying a signature of virus contamination.

23. The method of claim 1, further including the step of generating a plurality of independently designated policies to be delivered correctly to the subscriber even if some policy events invoke in simultaneity.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the examining step includes an ability to acquire knowledge of the policies and the identifier when a Web or other request is detected with only an identifying IP address.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the examining step is further adapted for minimizing overhead of acquiring subscriber parameters through caching of subscriber information for a determined portion of time.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the examining step is further adapted for use in connection with the consolidating and management device for permitting a group of redirecting devices to be viewed as a single system.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying step uses an the enforced delivery of a Web page to be used in a distribution and subscription of new subscribers without prior knowledge of serial numbers associated with the new subscriber'"'"'s interface equipment and without requiring the subscribers to utilize special software.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising the step of using the enforced delivery of a Web page to reduce a volume of telephone support requests by an enforced pre-announcement of known, future system outages due to scheduled maintenance.

29. The method of claim 27, further comprising the step of using the identifier for detection of “

signature”

forms of Internet packets that indicate a presence of undesirable content.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the undesirable content is a virus.

31. The method of claim 29, further including the step of transmitting a message identifying the undesirable content to a provider.

32. The method of claim 29, further including the step of transmitting a bulletin message identifying the undesirable content to the subscriber.

33. The method of claim 31, further including the step of logging the undesirable content identifying message.

34. The method of claim 28, wherein there is further included a manually accessed provider information Web site and the transmitting step includes enforcing a delivery of other subscriber-beneficial information that is currently displayed on the manually accessed provider information Web site.

35. The method of claim 16, further including the step of logging successful transmission of bulletin messages to each subscriber.

36. The method of claim 16, further including the step of logging interactive responses that have been requested within the policy.

37. The method of claim 16, further including the steps of detecting and logging a number of simultaneously requested Web connections, based on the transmission of the bulletin messages.

38. The method of claim 37, further including the step of flagging subscribers that are utilizing more than one simultaneous device per subscription.

39. The method of claim 16, further including the step of transmitting explanations to be issued, in an enforced manner, to subscribers, after a service interruption, in such a manner as to alleviate customer dissatisfaction by illuminating and explaining a problem and future efforts that are to be taken to eliminate such problems.

40. A computer readable medium comprising instructions for:

accessing only subscriber upstream traffic to a destination web site requested by a subscriber;

identifying the subscriber'"'"'s unique identification based on the accessed subscriber upstream traffic automatically provided by the subscriber;

providing the unique subscriber identification to a consolidating and management device located at a provider of Internet services providing data services and management control;

determining, by the consolidating and management device, the subscriber associated with the unique subscriber identification, and if the specially-composed bulletin message for the subscriber is desired to be communicated;

sending, by the consolidating and management device, policy information related to the data services and management control, wherein the policy information includes an IP address of the subscriber'"'"'s device, and at least one of;

the specially-composed bulletin message, a modification of the message to be performed for the IP address, a reference to the message, and a redirection to the message;

examining the accessed upstream traffic to determine if it is possible to send a redirection, wherein the examining occurs without modifying the accessed upstream traffic; and

forcing a delivery of the specially-composed message according to policies set by the provider of Internet services or the cable system operator irrespective of the subscriber'"'"'s intended destination.

41. A system for communicating at least one real-time specially-composed bulletin message to at least one subscriber of a provider of Internet services, comprising:

a first device; and

a second device communicably coupled to the first device;

wherein the first device;

accesses only subscriber upstream traffic to a destination web site requested by the subscriber, wherein the first device inter-connects between the at least one subscriber and the destination web site;

identifies the at least one subscriber'"'"'s unique identification based on the accessed subscriber upstream traffic automatically provided by the subscriber;

provides the unique subscriber identification to the second device located at the provider of Internet services providing data services and management control to the first device;

wherein the second device determines the subscriber associated with the unique subscriber identification, and if the specially-composed bulletin message for the subscriber is desired to be communicated;

the second device sends policy information related to the data services and management control, to the first device, wherein the policy information includes an IP address of the subscriber'"'"'s device, and at least one of;

the specially-composed bulletin message, a modification of the message to be performed for the IP address, a reference to the message, and a redirection to the message;

the first device examines the accessed upstream traffic to determine if it is possible to send a redirection, wherein the examining occurs without modifying the accessed upstream traffic; and

the first device sends the redirection if it is possible to do so.