Method of providing digital electronic book

• US 7,359,944 B2
• Filed: 02/06/2002
• Issued: 04/15/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: An, Jung Man
• Primary Examiner(s): RUDY, ANDREW J
• Application Number:
  US10/066,763
• Publication Number:
  US 20020107759A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,260 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14, 709/206, 709/231
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0242 Determining effectiveness of advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements

Abstract

Disclosed is a contents-providing service through a communication network and a system thereof and, more particularly, a method of providing a digital electronic book suitable for securing a copyright profit, by transferring a digital electronic book or digital multimedia with an advertisement. The method provides portions of a digital e-book in proportion to the degree that a user views an advertisement. Moreover, the method evaluates the e-book based on a user'"'"'s acknowledgment responses to the advertisement.

Claims

1. A method of providing digital contents through a communication network, comprising:

a first step of storing on a server digital contents each constructed with a plurality of service unit data and a plurality of advertisement contents; and

a second step of outputting the stored service unit data and the stored advertisement contents alternately through one transmission path via the communication network, wherein the first step further comprises;

storing a sequence file indexed to regulate a transmission order for the plurality of service unit data of a selected one of the digital contents; and

inter-relating at least one of the advertisement contents to each index of the sequence file to store the inter-related advertisement contents as the advertisement contents of each service unit data of the selected digital content, wherein when a specific index of the sequence file is requested, and wherein the method further comprises;

outputting the inter-related advertisement contents of the specific index;

making the service unit data of the specific index stand by for output;

outputting the service unit data standing by for output, when an acknowledgment by a user for the outputted advertisement contents of the specific index is received; and

measuring a popularity of the digital contents by referring to a number of acknowledgments received regarding each of the plurality of advertisement contents that were outputted corresponding to the plurality of service unit data of the digital contents.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising outputting the service unit data standing by for output after a predetermined time elapses after the output of the advertisement contents of the specific index.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first step further comprises:

storing a transmission order for each of the plurality of service unit data of selected ones of the digital contents; and

inter-relating at least one of the advertisement contents to said each of the plurality of service unit data of said selected ones of the digital contents according to a content of a corresponding digital content to store the inter-related advertisement contents as the advertisement contents of said each of the plurality of service unit data of said selected ones of the digital contents.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein when a designated service unit data of the digital contents is requested using a specific index of the sequence file, the method further comprises:

outputting the inter-related advertisement contents of the designated service unit data; and

outputting the designated service unit data after an acknowledgment by a user for the outputted advertisement contents of the designated service unit data is received, wherein the stored inter-related advertisement contents are determined according to a price of a corresponding digital content or a priority of said each service unit data of the corresponding digital content that together form the corresponding digital content.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the sequence file has a structure that at least one of the advertisement contents is inserted between each of the plurality of service unit data of the corresponding digital content, and wherein at least one of the outputted service unit data is transmitted is in a prescribed relationship to at least one of the received acknowledgment responses or transmitted entirely or in part for a time proportionate to said at least one of the received acknowledgment responses.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the plurality of service unit data of the corresponding digital content comprise chapters of a plurality of chapters or a set number of pages divided from pages of an electronic book, wherein the set number of pages is a positive integer N.