Systems and methods for providing parental control asset searching

• US 8,079,044 B1
• Filed: 04/10/2006
• Issued: 12/13/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/10/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rovi Guides, Inc. (Adeia Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rovi Guides, Inc. (Adeia Inc.)
• Inventors: Craner, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Tung, Kee M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Perromat, Carlos
• Application Number:
  US11/401,654
• Time in Patent Office: 2,073 Days
• Field of Search: 725 25- 36
• US Class Current: 725/28
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4532 involving end-user characteristics, e.g. viewer profile, preferences monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4542 Blocking scenes or portions of the received content, e.g. censoring scenes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4751 for defining user accounts, e.g. accounts for children
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4753 for user identification, e.g. by entering a PIN or password cryptographic authentication protocols H04L9/32; networks authentication protocols H04L63/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4755 for defining user preferences, e.g. favourite actors or genre retrieval personalisation and generation of user profiles for the retrieval of video data G06F16/739; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4826 using recommendation lists, e.g. of programs or channels sorted out according to their score
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4882 for displaying messages, e.g. warnings, reminders arrangements for providing short real-time information to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1895

Abstract

Systems and methods for searching for available assets permitted by parental controls are disclosed. Search results may include assets similar to a reference asset, which may be an asset the user has requested, but which is locked by parental control settings in force on the user equipment. Assets may be ranked according to their similarity, or relevance, to the requested asset, and they may be accessed directly from the search results. Systems and methods for accessing edited or censored versions of the requested asset are also disclosed. An edited content source may store multiple versions of certain assets available in the media system. The appropriate version of the asset may be accessed and presented to the user automatically depending on the user'"'"'s parental control settings.

Claims

1. A method for searching for assets that are permitted by parental controls, the method comprising:

receiving, with a user input device, user input to access a requested asset, wherein the requested asset is selected from the group consisting of a video asset, a music asset, an image asset and a text asset;

determining, using control circuitry, whether accessing the requested asset violates parental controls; and

at the time the user input to access the requested asset is received and in response to determining that accessing the requested asset violates parental controls;

presenting, on a display device, a prompt, wherein said prompt comprises;

an indication of a type of parental control exceeded or violated by the requested asset;

an option to enter a parental control access code; and

an option to simultaneously search a local source and a remote source for other available assets that do not violate parental controls.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

presenting a search results display listing the available assets that do not violate parental controls; and

accessing at least one of the available assets directly from the search results display.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the search results display includes an edited version of the requested asset and at least one other asset.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving parental control access code input; and

determining whether the received parental control access code input is valid.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

accessing the requested asset, in response to determining that the received parental control access code input is valid.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein determining whether the received parental control access code input is valid comprises determining if the parental access code is expired.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein determining if the parental access code is expired comprises determining if a usage criteria associated with the parental access code has been met.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the usage criteria comprises a predetermined amount of content viewing associated with a particular rating.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the usage criteria comprises a predetermined number of presentations of the requested asset.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the usage criteria may be automatically reset after a period of time.

11. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

in response to determining that the received parental control access code is not valid;

simultaneously searching the local source and the remote source for an edited version of the same requested asset that does not violate parental controls; and

accessing the edited version; and

accessing, in response to determining that the received parental control access code is valid, the requested asset.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein searching for an edited version of the same requested asset comprises connecting to an edited content source.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the edited content source is located remote from the user.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the edited version comprises a version of asset edited for television.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein the edited version comprises a non-explicit version of a digital music asset.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein accessing the edited version comprises censoring the requested asset in real-time.

17. The method of claim 11 wherein the parental controls are selected from the group consisting of title locks, television rating locks, movie rating locks, channel locks, and website locks.

18. The method of claim 11 wherein the requested asset is selected from the group consisting of a movie, a television program, an on-demand program, a pay-per-view program, a recorded program, a digital music clip, a new program, an interactive application, an interactive game, a website, a newsgroup, and a chatroom.

19. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining the similarity between the requested asset and the available assets.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein determining the similarity between the requested asset and the available assets comprises determining the distances between the requested asset and the available assets.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the distances between the requested asset and the available assets are based, at least in part, on at least one descriptor selected from the group consisting of the requested asset'"'"'s genre, title, writer, director, description, artist, actor, asset type, sub-genre, and topic.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein the parental controls are selected from the group consisting of title locks, television rating locks, movie rating locks, channel locks, and website locks.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein the available assets are selected from the group consisting of movies, television programs, on-demand media, pay-per-view media, recorded media, digital music, news, interactive applications, interactive games, websites, newsgroups, and chat rooms.

24. A system for searching for assets that are permitted by parental controls, the system comprising:

a user input device;

memory for storing parental control settings; and

control circuitry configured to;

receive input from the user input device to access a requested asset, wherein the requested asset is selected from the group consisting of a video asset, a music asset, an image asset and a text asset;

determine whether accessing the requested asset violates the parental control settings stored in the memory; and

at the time the user input to access the requested asset is received and in response to determining that accessing the requested asset violates the parental control settings;

present a prompt, wherein said prompt comprises;

an indication of a type of parental control exceeded;

an option to enter a parental control access code; and

an option to simultaneously search a local source and a remote source for other available assets that do not violate parental controls.

25. The system of claim 24 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

present a search results display listing the available assets that do not violate the parental control settings; and

access at least one of the available assets directly from the search results display.

26. The system of claim 24 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

receive parental control access code input; and

determine whether the received parental control access code input is valid.

27. The system of claim 26 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

access the requested asset, in response to determining that the received parental control access code input is valid.

28. The system of claim 26 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to determine whether the received parental control access code input is expired.

29. The system of claim 28 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to determine if a usage criteria associated with the parental access code has been met.

30. The system of claim 29 wherein the usage criteria comprises a predetermined amount of content viewing associated with a particular rating.

31. The system of claim 29, wherein the usage criteria comprises a predetermined number of presentations of the requested asset.

32. The system of claim 29, wherein the usage criteria may be automatically reset after a period of time.

33. The system of claim 26, wherein the control circuitry is further configured to:

in response to determining that the received parental control access code input is not valid;

simultaneously search the local source and the remote source for an edited version of the same requested asset that does not violate the parental control settings; and

access the edited version; and

access the requested asset, in response to determining that the received parental control access code input is valid.

34. The system of claim 33 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to connect to an edited content source.

35. The system of claim 34 wherein the edited content source is located remote from the user.

36. The system of claim 33 wherein the edited version comprises a version of asset edited for television.

37. The system of claim 33 wherein the edited version comprises a non-explicit version of a digital music asset.

38. The system of claim 33 wherein the control circuitry is configured to access the edited version by censoring the requested asset in real-time.

39. The system of claim 33 wherein the parental control settings are selected from the group consisting of title locks, television rating locks, movie rating locks, channel locks, and website locks.

40. The system of claim 33 wherein the requested asset is selected from the group consisting of a movie, a television program, an on-demand program, a pay-per-view program, a recorded program, a digital music clip, a new program, an interactive application, an interactive game, a website, a newsgroup, and a chatroom.

41. The system of claim 24 wherein the control circuitry is further configured to determine the similarity between the requested asset and the available assets.

42. The system of claim 41 wherein the control circuitry is configured to determine the similarity between the requested asset and the available assets by determining the distances between the requested asset and the available assets.

43. The system of claim 42 wherein the distances between the requested asset and the available assets are based at least in part on at least one descriptor selected from the group consisting of the requested asset'"'"'s genre, title, writer, director, artist, actor, description, asset type, sub-genre, and topic.

44. The system of claim 24 wherein the parental control settings are selected from the group consisting of title locks, television rating locks, movie rating locks, channel locks, and website locks.

45. The system of claim 24 wherein the available assets are selected from the group consisting of movies, television programs, on-demand media, pay-per-view media, recorded media, digital music, news, interactive applications, interactive games, websites, newsgroups, and chatrooms.