System for regulating access to and distributing content in a network

• US 8,122,128 B2
• Filed: 11/16/2004
• Issued: 02/21/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Multimedia Content Management LLC (IPValuation Partners, LLC)
• Original Assignee: David Z. Carman, Robert M. Burke, II
• Inventors: Carman, David Z., Burke, II, Robert M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pwu, Jeffrey
• Assistant Examiner(s): KHAJURIA, SHRIPAL K
• Application Number:
  US10/989,023
• Publication Number:
  US 20050125528A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,653 Days
• Field of Search: 709/225
• US Class Current: 709/225
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/1085 Content sharing, e.g. peer-to-peer [P2P]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/184 Intellectual property management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/26 Government or public services business processes related to the transportation industry G06Q50/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2463/101 applying security measures for digital rights management data processing systems or methods, specially adapted for commerce, e.g. marketing, shopping, billing, auctions or e-commerce G06Q30/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/02 for separating internal from external traffic, e.g. firewalls
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1458 Denial of Service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/30 for supporting lawful interception, monitoring or retaining of communications or communication related information circuit switched telephony call monitoring H04M3/2281

Abstract

There is provided a system for regulating access and managing distribution of content in a network, such as the Internet. The system includes communication gateways, installed at a subscriber site, internet control points, installed remotely, and various network elements installed throughout the network. The communication gateways and network elements operate in conjunction with the internet control points to restrict or allow access to specified Internet sites and to manage efficient distribution of content such as music, video, games, broadband data, real-time audio and voice applications, and software to subscribers.

Claims

1. A system for regulating access to content provided by a content server, the system comprising:

a controller node configured to control access to the content provided by the content server, the controller node comprising;

a first processor configured to generate controller instructions to allow access to one or more particular content files provided by the content server, wherein the controller instructions are configured to be executed by a plurality of gateway units, remotely disposed from the controller node and the content server, and coupled to the controller node and the content server via a network, to regulate access to the one or more particular content files provided by the content server, by subscriber terminals selectively coupled to the gateway units, including distributedly implementing a digital rights management service on behalf of the controller node; and

a first network interface coupled to the first processor, and configured to transmit the controller instructions to the gateway units over the network, wherein subsequent to receipt of the controller instructions, the gateway units to receive a user request for the one or more particular content files and in response, to provide the one or more particular content files to the user prior to further input or instruction from the controller node;

wherein each of the plurality of gateway units is located at a subscriber location and is further configured to be tamper resistant with respect to access of the controller node provided controller instructions by the subscriber terminals, wherein at least one of the tamper resistant gateway units comprise;

a housing;

a detector configured to detect an attempt to open the housing; and

a storage device configured to store the controller instructions; and

a second processor configured to prevent access to the storage device when the detector detects an attempt to open the housing, in accordance with the controller instructions.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein:

at least one gateway unit further comprises an identifier uniquely associating the corresponding gateway unit with a user;

wherein the corresponding storage device is further configured to store information associated with the user, in accordance with the controller instructions.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein:

at least one of the gateway units comprises an interface configured to receive requests to transmit data for a coupled subscriber terminal; and

the at least one gateway unit further comprises a second processor configured to inspect the data to selectively transmit none, some or all of the data for the requesting subscriber terminal, in accordance with the controller instructions.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein:

at least one of the gateway units comprises an interface configured to receive requests to retrieve the content files for a coupled subscriber terminal; and

the second processor is configured to inspect the content files to selectively provide none, some or all of the retrieved content files to the requesting subscriber terminal, in accordance with the controller instructions.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the first processor is configured to generate the controller instructions automatically.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the first processor is configured to generate the controller instructions in response to an operator-entered request.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller node is included in a plurality of controller nodes, and wherein the controller node comprising the first processor is configured to generate the controller instructions by operator-controlled network crawling.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller instructions are configured to deny users of the subscriber terminals access to one or more other content servers, in accordance with the controller instructions.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein at least one of the gateway units comprises an additional processor configured to generate a notification to the controller node in response to a network access request to access one of the one or more other content servers by a coupled subscriber terminal, in accordance with the controller instructions.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein at least one of the plurality of gateway units comprises an additional processor configured to:

detect a network access request to access one of the one or more other content servers by a coupled subscriber terminal; and

re-direct the network access request to one or more other content servers;

wherein the detect and re-direct are performed in accordance with the controller instructions.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the controller instructions are configured to include a file identifier; and

at least one of the plurality of gateway units is configured to be associated with a user file system, and the at least one gateway units comprises an additional processor configured to detect a file in the user file system corresponding to the file identifier, in accordance with the controller instructions.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one gateway unit is configured to be operable between an active state and an inactive state.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the additional processor is configured to notify the controller node in response to the at least one gateway unit entering an inactive state, in accordance with the controller instructions.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the additional processor is configured to delete the detected file from the user file system, in accordance with the controller instructions.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the additional processor is configured to delete the detected file from the user file system during the inactive state.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one gateway unit is configured to notify the controller node if a file corresponding to the file identifier is detected in the associated user file system, in accordance with the controller instructions.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one gateway unit is further configured to notify the controller node of a detected attempt to open the housing, in accordance with the controller instructions.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the second processor is configured to enter a corresponding gateway unit into a user-controlled operational mode after receiving permission from the controller node, in accordance with the controller instructions.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller node comprises a copyright registry configured to track copyright status of content files distributed to subscriber terminals, via one or more of the gateway units.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein at least one of the gateway units comprises an interface configured to transmit copyright registrations of content data files to the copyright registry, in accordance with the controller instructions.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the gateway units comprises an additional processor configured to cause the at least one gateway unit to access a predetermined network site upon initiation of network browser software on a coupled subscriber terminal, in accordance with the controller instructions.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the additional processor is configured to select the predetermined network site from a list of predetermined network sites, in accordance with the controller instructions.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the additional processor is configured to select the predetermined network site according to a weighting function such that at least a portion of the predetermined network sites are selected more often than others, in accordance with the controller instructions.

24. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the gateway units comprises a user interface and a second network interface configured to:

receive registration information from a user of a coupled subscriber terminal via the user interface; and

receive initial operating parameters from the controller node via the second network interface;

wherein both receive operations are in accordance with the controller instructions.

25. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the gateway units comprises a user interface and a second network interface configured to:

receive registration information from a user of a coupled subscriber terminal via the user interface; and

receive software updates from the controller node via the second network interface;

wherein both receive operations are in accordance with the controller instructions.

26. The system of claim 1, wherein:

at least one of the gateway units comprises a user interface and a second network interface configured to transmit advertisements via the user interface to a user display of a coupled subscriber terminal, wherein the advertisements are customized in accordance with content received via the second network interface, in accordance with the controller instructions.

27. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the gateway units comprises a user interface configured to:

transmit pay-per-view advertising via the user interface to a coupled subscriber terminal for selective display by a user of the subscriber terminal; and

report to the controller node for payment credits for the user upon selective display of an advertisement by the user;

wherein the transmit and report operations are in accordance with the controller instructions.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the at least one gateway units is configured to generate one of a plurality of viewing modes for viewing the pay-per-view advertising in response to a user selection, in accordance with the controller instructions.

29. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the gateway units comprises a second network interface configured to receive software via the second network interface for execution on the second processor, the software to enable at least one of a fee-based network service, network video calling, and network gaming, in accordance with the controller instructions.

30. The system of claim 1, wherein the second processor is configured to detect a denial-of-service attack, in accordance with the controller instructions.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the second processor is configured to detect a denial-of-service attack initiated by a virus.

32. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the gateway units is configured to selectively transmit to law enforcement terminals information describing at least one of incoming data to and outgoing data from the at least one of the gateway units, in accordance with the controller instructions.

33. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the gateway units is configured to:

detect a user attempt to access at least one of transmit and receive voice traffic; and

selectively block the detected attempt;

wherein the detect and selective block are in accordance with the controller instructions.

34. The system of claim 33 wherein at least one of the gateway units comprises an interface configured to transmit, via the interface, an advertisement offering voice transmission services, in accordance with the controller instructions.

35. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the gateway units is configured to:

detect a user attempt to access at least one of transmit and receive at least one of audio or video traffic; and

selectively block the detected attempt;

wherein the detect and selective block are in accordance with the controller instructions.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein at least one of the gateway units comprises an interface configured to transmit, via the interface, an advertisement offering at least one of audio and video traffic services, in accordance with the controller instructions.

37. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the gateway units comprises a second network interface configured to:

detect at least one of audio and video traffic flowing through the second network interface; and

selectively reduce the quality of service of the at least one of audio and video traffic;

wherein the detect and selective reduction are in accordance with the controller instructions; and

wherein reduction of quality of service comprises at least one of;

reducing a duty cycle, inserting TCP/IP messages in the at least one of audio and video traffic, inserting Nak/Ack pairs in the at least one of audio and video traffic, and inserting X-On/X-Off pairs in the at least one of audio and video traffic.

38. The system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of access nodes, wherein the first processor is further configured to generate authorization instructions and transmit the authorization instructions to the access nodes, and the access nodes are configured to:

receive the authorization instructions from the controller node; and

selectively permit the gateway units to access the network in accordance with the authorization instructions.

39. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the gateway units comprises data storage units partitioned into a network portion and a user portion, and the at least one gateway units is configured to selectively share data stored in the network partition with at least one of another gateway unit, via a second network interface of the at least one gateway unit, in accordance with the controller instructions.

40. The system of claim 1, wherein the second processor is configured to selectively forward content data received from a first other gateway unit to a second other gateway unit, in accordance with the controller instructions.

41. The system of claim 1, wherein the second processor is further configured to:

receive portions of a content file from a group of other gateway units; and

assemble a content file based on the received portions for transmission to a user of a coupled subscriber terminal, via the user interface;

wherein the receive and assemble are in accordance with the controller instructions.

42. The system of claim 1, further comprising an intervention node, wherein the intervention node includes:

an operator interface configured to receive operator-entered spoofing attack instructions; and

a second network interface configured to transmit at least one substitute file pointer to addresses in the network in accordance with the spoofing attack instructions.

49. The system of claim 1 wherein the controller instructions are further configured to cause the plurality of gateway units to inhibit access by a second plurality of subscriber terminals to content provided by the content server.

43. A gateway unit for regulating access to content provided by a content server, comprising:

a network interface configured to receive controller instructions from a controller node, the gateway unit remotely disposed from the controller node and the content server, and coupled to the controller node and the content server via a network; and

a processor configured to execute the controller instructions to regulate access by subscriber terminals selectively coupled to the gateway unit of content files provided by the content server, including distributedly implementing a digital rights management service on behalf of the controller node, wherein subsequent to receipt of the controller instructions, the network interface to receive a user request for one or more of the content files and in response, to provide the one or more content files to the user prior to receiving further input or instruction from the controller node;

wherein the gateway unit is further configured to be tamper resistant with respect to access of the controller node provided controller instructions by the subscriber terminals, the gateway unit comprising;

a housing;

a detector configured to detect an attempt to open the housing;

a storage device configured to store the controller instructions; and

a second processor configured to prevent access to the storage device when the detector detects an attempt to open the housing, in accordance with the controller instructions.

44. The gateway unit of claim 43, wherein the

processor is further configured to enter a user-controlled operational mode after receiving permission from the controller node.

45. The gateway unit of claim 43, wherein the processor is further configured to select a predetermined network site from a list of predetermined network sites, in accordance with the controller instructions.

46. The gateway unit of claim 45, wherein the processor is further configured to select from the list of predetermined network sites according to a weighting function such that at least a portion of the predetermined network sites are selected more often than others, in accordance with the controller instructions.

50. The gateway unit of claim 43 wherein the controller instructions are configured to regulate processing by network units of the content files provided by the content server.

47. An apparatus, comprising:

means for generating controller instructions to allow access to one or more particular content files provided by a content server, wherein the controller instructions are configured to be executed by a gateway unit, the gateway unit remotely disposed from the means for generating the controller instructions and the content server, and coupled to a controller node including the means for generating controller instructions and the content server via a network, the controller instructions to regulate access to the one or more particular content files provided by the content server to a subscriber terminal selectively coupled to the gateway unit, including distributedly implementing a digital rights management service on behalf of the controller node; and

means to transmit the controller instructions to the gateway unit over the network, wherein subsequent to receipt of the controller instructions, the gateway unit to receive a subscriber request for the one or more particular content files and in response, to provide the one or more particular content files to the subscriber prior to further input or instruction from the controller node;

wherein the gateway unit is located at a subscriber location and is further configured to be tamper resistant with respect to access of the controller node provided controller instructions by the subscriber terminal, the gateway unit comprising;

a housing;

a detector configured to detect an attempt to open the housing;

a storage device configured to store the controller instructions; and

a second processor configured to prevent access to the storage device when the detector detects an attempt to open the housing, in accordance with the controller instructions.

48. An apparatus, comprising:

first means for receiving controller instructions from a controller node, the apparatus remotely coupled to the controller node and a content server via a network;

second means configured to execute the controller instructions to regulate access by subscriber terminals of content provided by the content server, including distributedly implementing a digital rights management service on behalf of the controller node, wherein subsequent to receipt of the controller instructions by the first means, the first means to receive a user request for one or more particular content files and in response, to provide the one or more particular content files to a subscriber terminal prior to further input or instruction from the controller node;

wherein the apparatus including the first means and the second means is located at a subscriber location and is further configured to be tamper resistant with respect to access by the subscriber terminal of the controller node provided controller instructions, the apparatus further comprising;

a housing;

a detector configured to detect an attempt to open the housing;

a storage device configured to store the controller instructions; and

a second processor configured to prevent access to the storage device when the detector detects an attempt to open the housing, in accordance with the controller instructions.