Parental controls for entertainment content

• US 8,661,508 B2
• Filed: 11/08/2011
• Issued: 02/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/10/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Evans, C. Shane, Choudhry, Kareem A., Toll, Roderick M., Hildebrandt, Jonathan D.
• Primary Examiner(s): SHAW, YIN CHEN
• Application Number:
  US13/291,908
• Publication Number:
  US 20120054789A1
• Time in Patent Office: 840 Days
• Field of Search: 726/2, 726 26- 28, 713182-184, 725/25, 725/28, 725 30- 31
• US Class Current: 726/2
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; 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 21/4532 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 21/454 Content or additional data filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4751 for defining user accounts, e.g. accounts for children
• 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 21/4781 Games
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4782 Web browsing , e.g. WebTV
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/162 Authorising the user terminal, e.g. by paying; Registering the use of a subscription channel, e.g. billing

Abstract

Parental controls for entertainment digital media are provided that allow a parent to restrict multiple user'"'"'s access to entertainment content. One or more updatable rating definition files with dynamic data are used to define rating levels and content descriptors for a regional rating system. Entertainment content definition files define the rating level and content descriptors for entertainment content. User permission settings define a particular user'"'"'s access rating level and content descriptors. The rating definition file can be used to compare the entertainment content definition file and user permission settings in determining if a user is allowed access to particular entertainment content.

Claims

1. In an electronic entertainment system for playing entertainment content, a method of controlling a user'"'"'s access to the entertainment content in a manner that allows rating systems to be changed, added, or removed, and by using dynamic data defined by a rating definition file, an entertainment content definition file, and user permission settings, the method comprising:

within the electronic entertainment system, accessing a rating definition file, the accessed rating definition file (RDF) dynamically defining an entertainment rating scale, the rating definition file and the entertainment rating scale being independent of any particular rating system, the rating definition file data defining the entertainment rating scale being dynamically updateable to selectively perform each of adding, removing and changing rating levels and content descriptors within the entertainment rating scale, wherein the entertainment rating scale is defined independent of any particular entertainment content;

retrieving an entertainment content definition file (ECDF) that defines a content rating for entertainment content;

retrieving user access settings that define a user access rating for a particular user, the user access rating for the particular user defining a rating level for each of a plurality of content descriptors which apply to the particular user, the user access settings having been configured through a user interface (UI) enabling an administrator to configure entertainment content restrictions and permissions for a plurality of users such that different rating selections apply to different users;

using the entertainment rating scale dynamically defined by the rating definition file, comparing the user access rating with the content rating for the entertainment content to determine whether the particular user is allowed access to the entertainment content;

wherein retrieving ECDF for entertainment content further comprises creating the ECDF for legacy entertainment content distributed originally without ECDF; and

denying the particular use access to the legacy entertainment content when the particular user is added to a security group of the legacy entertainment content.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the rating definition file further dynamically defines one or more content descriptors for one or more rating levels within the entertainment rating scale, the rating levels within the entertainment rating scale are age-based rating levels and the content descriptors define the type of subject matter within each rating scale.