Method and apparatus for ordering goods, services and content over an internetwork

• US 7,606,355 B2
• Filed: 01/05/2001
• Issued: 10/20/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/22/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: SertintyONE Corp.
• Original Assignee: eCharge Corporation
• Inventors: Hutchison, Robin B., Huang, Jun, Dominguez, Roberto, Hagman, Darren W., Begg, Iain M., Linkletter, P. Carl, Heinrichs, Denis N., Fleming, George A., Maydaniuk, Michael T.G.
• Primary Examiner(s): RUDY, ANDREW J
• Application Number:
  US09/755,657
• Publication Number:
  US 20010001147A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,210 Days
• Field of Search: 706/26, 711/100, 705/1, 705/26, 705/40, 705/72, 704/270, 379/115.01, 379/115.02
• US Class Current: 379/115.02
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/04 Payment circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/102 Bill distribution or payments
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/16 Payments settled via telecommunication systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3674 involving authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3829 involving key management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/4012 Verifying personal identification numbers [PIN]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0613 Third-party assisted
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0635 Processing of requisition or of purchase orders
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1403 Architecture for metering, charging or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1421 Indication of expected costs
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1428 Invoice generation, e.g. customization, lay-out, database processing, algorithms for calculating the bill or formatting invoices as WWW pages invoicing in general G06Q30/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1439 time-based
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1446 inter-operator billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1453 Methods or systems for payment or settlement of the charges for data transmission involving significant interaction with the data transmission network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1457 using an account
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1471 : splitting of costs
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1482 : involving use of telephony infrastructure for billing for the transport of data, e.g. call detail record [CDR] or intelligent network infrastructure
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 : Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/68 : Payment of value-added services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8207 : Time based data metric aspects, e.g. VoIP or circuit switched packet data
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0176 : Billing arrangements using internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/0196 : Payment of value-added services, mainly when their charges are added on the telephone bill, e.g. payment of non-telecom services, e-commerce, on-line banking
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/22 : Bandwidth or usage-sensitve billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/7813 : Time based data, e.g. VoIP or circuit switched packet data

Abstract

A billing system is provided that allows a consumer to order products from computers connected to the Internet, wherein the consumer is automatically billed for the ordered good or service by its telephone service provider. The billing system comprises a plug-in component (52, 52′), a billing server component (62, 62′), and in some embodiments, a merchant session gateway component (65). When a consumer orders a product over the Internet (20), the plug-in component (52) of the consumer'"'"'s computer (42) establishes an Internet connection to a billing server (34) located elsewhere on the Internet (20) to order the product. In a first embodiment, the billing server component (62) of the billing server (34) transfers an encrypted version of the product to the plug-in component (52). The plug-in component (52) then disconnects from the Internet (20) and establishes a point-to-point (PPP) connection with the billing server (34). During the PPP connection, the billing server component (64) transfers an access key assigned to the order to the plug-in component (52) so that the plug-in component (52) may decrypt the product. The consumer is charged a unit rate or “drop-charge” for the product by the telephone service provider when the PPP connection is established using a premium telephone number assigned and administered by the telephone service provider. In a second embodiment, the consumer is charged a per minute rate for his or her time spent accessing the product, rather than a drop-charge. In the second embodiment, the billing server component (62′) transfers a premium telephone number associated with the ordered product to the plug-in component(52′) rather than an encrypted version of the product. The plug-in component (52′) then establishes a PPP connection with the billing server (34) using the premium telephone number during which the consumer'"'"'s computer (42) downloads the ordered product from a merchant server (39) located elsewhere in the Internet (42). The consumer is then billed for the ordered product based on the duration of the PPP connection established using the premium telephone number. Prior to downloading the ordered product, the merchant session gateway component (65) provides the plug-in component (52′) with the information necessary for locating and accessing the ordered product.

Claims

1. A computer-readable medium having a plug-in component containing program code for ordering a product from a plurality of computers and servers connected to form an internetwork, wherein the plug-in component places an order for the product by sequentially:

(a) establishing an internetwork communication link with a billing server that processes orders for products;

(b) obtaining from the billing server a transaction identification, which identifies the order for the product, and a premium telephone number for establishing a premium telephone number communication link with the billing server;

(c) disconnecting the internetwork communication link with the billing server;

(d) after disconnecting the internetwork communication link with the billing server, using the premium telephone number to;

(1) establish the premium telephone number communication link with the billing server; and

(2) identify a telephone communication billing entity to which the order for the product is to be billed;

(e) transferring the order for the product to the billing server for processing; and

(f) obtaining access information from the billing server via the premium telephone number communication link, which is used to claim the ordered product.

2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the plug-in component obtains the access information by:

(a) transferring the transaction identification to the billing server to identify the order placed; and

(b) obtaining an access key from the billing server, wherein the access key is assigned to the order identified by the transaction identification, and wherein the access key is used to claim the ordered product.

3. The computer-readable medium of claim 2 having a further computer-executable component comprising a billing component for verifying the order placed by the plug-in component, wherein the billing component verifies the order placed by:

(a) providing the transaction identification to the plug-in component once the internetwork communication link with the billing server is established by the plug-in component; and

(b) providing the access key to the plug-in component once the premium telephone communication link with the billing server is established by the plug-in component.

4. The computer-readable medium of claim 3, wherein the billing component also provides the plug-in component with an encrypted version of the product ordered before the plug-in component disconnects the internetwork communication link with the billing server.

5. The computer-readable medium of claim 4, wherein the plug-in component decrypts the encrypted version of the product ordered with the access key provided by the billing component.

6. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the premium telephone number communication link is associated with a 900 telephone number.

7. The computer-readable medium of claim 2, wherein the premium telephone number communication link established by the plug-in component is administered by a telephone service provider, which bills a unit drop-charge for the product ordered via the premium telephone number communication link.

8. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the plug-in component further places the order for the product by obtaining the ordered product from a merchant server located using the access information during the premium telephone number communication link with the billing server.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the premium telephone number communication link established with the billing server is administered by a telephone service provider, which calculates a charge for the ordered product by multiplying a predetermined rate associated with the premium telephone number communication link and the ordered product by the duration of the premium telephone number communication link with the billing server.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 9 having a further computer-executable component comprising a billing component for processing the order placed by the plug-in component, wherein the billing component processes the order by:

(a) providing the plug-in component with a premium telephone number used to establish the premium telephone number communication link with the billing server and a telephone billing entity to which the order for the product is to be billed; and

(b) after the premium telephone number communication link with the consumer computer is established,

(i) establishing an internetwork communication link with a merchant server connected to the internetwork which supplies the access information for the ordered product; and

(ii) forwarding the order for the product to the merchant server via the internetwork communication link.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 10 having a further computer-executable component comprising a merchant component for supplying the access information for the ordered product to the plug-in component, wherein the merchant component supplies the access information by:

(a) assigning an access identification to a designated communications session between the consumer'"'"'s computer and the merchant server;

(b) assigning a password for claiming the ordered product;

(c) generating a locator for the ordered product identifying the location of the ordered product in the internetwork; and

(d) supplying the access information, password and locator to the billing component.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the billing component further processes the order by forwarding the access identification, password and locator received from the merchant component to the plug-in component.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the plug-in component further places the order for the product by creating a bookmark for the ordered product, which contains the premium telephone number used to establish the premium telephone number communication link to the billing server and the telephone billing entity to which the order for the product is to be billed.