System for protecting information over the internet

• US 7,171,567 B1
• Filed: 08/01/2000
• Issued: 01/30/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: S Aqua Semiconductor LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Harris Interactive Incorporated (Nielsen Holdings plc)
• Inventors: Frost, David, Bayer, Leonard, Mathias, Nelson
• Primary Examiner(s): Revak; Christopher
• Assistant Examiner(s): Moorthy; Aravind K
• Application Number:
  US09/630,422
• Time in Patent Office: 2,373 Days
• Field of Search: 713/193, 713/200, 713/201, 705/10
• US Class Current: 713/193
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2147 Locking files
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/06 for supporting key management in a packet data network cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key management H04L9/08

Abstract

A system at a web site addressable by one or more client computers. Each client computer connects to the web site to receive a respondent identifier and a viewer. The viewer at the client computer generates a unique viewer identifier identifying the client computer, and sends that identifier to the web site for registration with the respondent identifier. The viewer connects to the web site and downloads a file with encrypted content information. The viewer requests the web site for a key to decrypt the file. Based on the respondent and viewer identifiers, and the particular survey and exposure limits, a key is sent to the client computer. The viewer decrypts the encrypted file with the key, and then shows the content information in a window. During viewing, the viewer ignores interrupts from the computer'"'"'s user interface enabling copying, and stops showing the decrypted content if another window is selected.

Claims

1. A method for conducting a survey at a computer connected to the Internet comprising the steps of:

sending a survey to the computer via the Internet which references a network address to obtain a file for said survey;

downloading said file from said network address in which said file is encrypted;

requesting a key to decrypt said encrypted file from a network address where said key is available;

receiving a key at the computer when said computer is associated with a participant selected to take said survey; and

decrypting the file in accordance with said key and playing the decrypted file as part of the survey.

2. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

playing the decrypted file in a window on a display coupled to the computer; and

protecting said window from being accessed by the user of the computer when another window on the display is selected.

3. The method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of registering the computer for receiving said survey prior to carrying out said sending survey step.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein said receiving a key step further comprises the step of sending the key to the computer when said key has been requested during a certain period of time.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein said receiving a key step further comprises the step of sending the key to the computer when computer has not already received the encrypted file a preset number of times.

6. The method according to claim 1 wherein said receiving a key step further comprises the step of sending the key to the computer when a participant has not taken the survey.