Online service registration system and method

• US 6,711,682 B1
• Filed: 02/09/2000
• Issued: 03/23/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Capps, Stephen P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Trammell, James P.
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHEUNG, MARY DA ZHI WANG
• Application Number:
  US09/501,803
• Time in Patent Office: 1,504 Days
• Field of Search: 705/50-51, 707/9-10, 709/223-225, 709/227-229, 713/182-186, 713/200-202, 713/166, 713/168, 713/180, 713/156-159
• US Class Current: 713/184
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2117 User registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0421 Anonymous communication, i.e. the party's identifiers are hidden from the other party or parties, e.g. using an anonymizer

Abstract

A method for registering a user for an online service includes receiving an initial access to an online service by a prospective user and determining whether the user has provided a valid user identifier (ID). If the prospective user fails to provide a valid user ID, automatically generating a memorable user identifier (ID), without acquiring any personal information regarding the prospective user, to enable the prospective user to anonymously access the online service.

Claims

1. A method for registering a prospective user to utilize an online service, the method comprising:

receiving an initial access to an online service by a prospective user;

determining whether the user has provided a valid user identifier (ID); and

if the user has not provided a valid user ID;

automatically generating a memorable user identifier (ID), without acquiring personal information regarding the prospective user;

displaying a user interface (UI) including the memorable user ID;

retrieving any change to the memorable user ID via the UI; and

enabling the prospective user to access the online service using either the original or the changed memorable user IDs.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising adding the memorable user ID to a user registry associated with the online service enabling access to the online service.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the determining comprises accessing a user registry associated with the online service to search for a user ID offered by the prospective user.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the determining comprises identifying that a user ID offered by the user adheres to client assignment rules.

5. A method as recited in claim 4, wherein a user ID generated in accordance with client assignment rules substantially differs from a user ID generated in accordance with server assignment rules.

6. A method as recited in claim 5, wherein a user ID generated in accordance with client assignment rules are distributed to prospective users with a product or service unrelated to the online service as promotional material.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the memorable user ID is generated in accordance with server assignment rules.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

constructing a configuration file including at least the memorable user ID to facilitate direct access to the online service on subsequent accesses; and

downloading the configuration file to a client computer used by the prospective user to access the online service.

9. A method as recited in claim 8, wherein the configuration file is used during subsequent accesses to the online service to automatically provide the user ID, facilitating direct access to the online service.

10. A storage medium having stored therein a plurality of executable instructions which, when executed, implement a method as recited in claim 1.

11. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the automatically generating the memorable user ID further comprises enabling the prospective user to make both the initial and successive accesses to the online service without the online service acquiring personal information about the prospective user.

12. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the automatically generating the memorable user ID further comprises generating the memorable user ID without requiring the prospective user to input personal information about the prospective user.

13. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the automatically generating the memorable user ID further comprises generating the memorable user ID without prompting the prospective user to input demographic information about the prospective user.

14. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the automatically generating the memorable user ID further comprises generating the memorable user ID so as to conform to a predetermined syntax.

15. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the personal information includes demographic information regarding the prospective user.

16. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising detecting a geographic region from any automatic number identifier (ANI) information from a telephone number of a dial-up connection connecting the initial access to the online service, wherein the automatically generating the memorable user ID further comprises forming the memorable user ID to include an association with the detected geographic region.

17. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein:

the receiving an initial access to an online service by a prospective user further comprises receiving a product identifier from the prospective user;

the automatically generating the memorable user ID further comprises forming the memorable user ID to include the product identifier; and

the product identifier is selected from the group consisting of a good, a service, and a provider of goods and/or services.

18. The method as defined in claim 1, wherein the automatically generating the memorable user ID further comprises forming the memorable user ID to include:

a word from one or more word lists; and

an optional number, whereby the memorable user ID is unique.

19. A business method comprising:

offering an online service to prospective users from an accessible server;

automatically generating a memorable user identifier (ID), without acquiring personal information regarding a prospective user, for the prospective user requesting access to the service if the prospective user has not offered a valid user identifier (ID);

displaying a user interface (UI) including the memorable user ID;

retrieving a change to the memorable user ID via the UI; and

enabling the prospective user to access the online service using either the original or the changed memorable user IDs.

20. A business method as recited in claim 19, further comprising:

verifying that the prospective user has offered a valid user ID by,

accessing a user registry associated with the online service to identify the offered user ID; and

determining whether the offered user ID adheres to client assignment rules if the offered user ID is not identified within the user registry.

21. A business method as recited in claim 20, wherein a user ID generated in accordance with client assignment rules is provided to the prospective user in association with a product or service that is unrelated to the online service.

22. A business method as recited in claim 20, further comprising:

populating the u user registry with the user ID adhering to the client assignment rules to facilitate direct access to the online service on subsequent accesses by the user.

23. A business method as recited in claim 22, further comprising:

constructing a configuration file including at least the user ID; and

downloading the configuration file to a client computer used to access the online service to automatically provide the user ID to the online service on subsequent accesses to the service by the user.

24. A business method as recited in claim 19, further comprising:

dynamically generating a user ID for the prospective user if the user has failed to provide a valid user ID.

25. A business method as recited in claim 24, wherein the dynamically generated user ID is generated in accordance with server assignment rules, without acquiring personal information regarding the prospective user.

26. A business method as recited in claim 24, further comprising:

populating a user registry with the dynamically generated user ID facilitating direct access to the online service on subsequent accesses by the user.

27. A business method as recited in claim 24, further comprising:

constructing a configuration file including at least the dynamically generated user ID; and

downloading the configuration file to a client computer used to access the online service to automatically provide the user ID to the online service on subsequent accesses to the service by the user.

28. A storage medium having stored therein a plurality of executable instructions which, when executed, implement a business method as recited in claim 19.

29. The business method as defined in claim 19, wherein the automatically generating the memorable user ID further comprises generating the memorable user ID without requiring the prospective user to input personal information regarding the prospective user.

30. The business method as defined in claim 19, wherein the automatically generating the memorable user ID further comprises generating the memorable user ID without prompting the prospective user to input demographic information regarding the prospective user.

31. The business method as defined in claim 19, wherein the automatically generating the memorable user ID further comprises generating the memorable user ID so as to conform to a predetermined syntax.

32. The method as defined in claim 19, wherein the personal information includes demographic information characterizing the prospective user.

33. The business method as defined in claim 19, further comprising detecting a geographic region from any automatic number identifier (ANI) information from a telephone number of a dial-up connection connecting the requesting access to the online service, wherein the automatically generating the memorable user ID further comprises forming the memorable user ID to include an association with the geographic region.

34. The business method as defined in claim 19, further comprising receiving an initial access to the online service from the prospective user supplying a product identifier, wherein:

the automatically generating the memorable user ID further comprises forming the memorable user ID to include the product identifier; and

the product identifier is selected from the group consisting of a good, a service, and a provider of goods and/or services.

35. The business method as defined in claim 19, wherein the automatically generating the memorable user ID further comprises forming the memorable user ID to include:

a word from one or more word lists; and

an optional number, whereby the memorable user ID is unique.

36. A registration manager comprising:

a user identifier (ID) generator to create, upon an invocation, a memorable user ID for a prospective user of the online service without acquiring personal information about the prospective user;

controller, coupled to the user ID generator, to receive an initial access from a prospective user and, if the user fails to provide a valid user ID, to invoke the user ID generator, to facilitate access of the online service;

means for displaying a user interface (UI) including the memorable user ID;

means for retrieving a change to the memorable user ID via the UI; and

means for enabling the prospective user to access the online service using either the original or the changed memorable user IDs.

37. A registration manager as recited in claim 36, further comprising:

a user registry, coupled to the controller, containing a list of valid user ID'"'"'s.

38. A registration manager as recited in claim 37, wherein the controller accesses the user registry to identify the user ID offered by the prospective user to determine if the offered user ID is a valid user ID.

39. A registration manager as recited in claim 37, wherein the controller identifies whether the user ID offered by the prospective user adheres to client assignment rules to determine if the offered user ID is valid.

40. A registration manager as recited in claim 39, wherein the controller updates the user registry with the offered user ID adhering to client assignment rules to facilitate direct anonymous access on subsequent accesses to the online service.

41. A registration manager as recited in claim 39, wherein the controller constructs and downloads a configuration file including at least the user ID to a client computer used by the prospective user to access the online service to automatically provide the controller with the valid user ID upon subsequent accesses to the online service.

42. A registration manager as recited in claim 36, wherein the controller populates a user registry with the dynamically generated user ID to facilitate direct, anonymous access to the online service upon subsequent accesses by the prospective user.

43. A registration manager as recited in claim 36, wherein the controller constructs and downloads a configuration file including at least the valid user ID to a client computer utilized by the prospective user to access the online service to automatically provide the valid user ID on subsequent accesses to the online service.

44. A storage medium having stored therein a plurality of executable instructions which, when executed, implements a registration manager as recited in claim 36.

45. A server for a Web site comprising the registration manager as recited in claim 36.

46. The registration manager as defined in claim 36, wherein the user ID generator creates the memorable user ID without requiring the prospective user of the online service to input personal information about the prospective user.

47. The registration manager as defined in claim 36, wherein the user ID generator creates the memorable user ID without prompting the prospective user to input demographic information about the prospective user.

48. The registration manager as defined in claim 36, wherein the user ID generator creates the memorable user ID so as to conform to a predetermined syntax.

49. The registration manager as defined in claim 36, wherein the personal information includes demographic information characterizing the prospective user.

50. A registration manager as recited in claim 36, wherein the user ID generator further comprising means for detecting a geographic region from any automatic number identifier (ANI) information from a telephone number of a dial-up connection connecting the requesting access to the online service, wherein the memorable user ID includes an association with the geographic region.

51. A registration manager as recited in claim 36, further comprising means for receiving an initial access to the online service from the prospective user supplying a product identifier, wherein:

the user ID generator further comprises means for forming the memorable user ID to include the product identifier; and

the product identifier is selected from the group consisting of a good, a service, and a provider of goods and/or services.

52. A registration manager as recited in claim 36, wherein the user ID generator further comprising means for forming the memorable user ID to include:

a word from one or more word lists; and

an optional number, whereby the memorable user ID is unique.

53. A system comprising:

a client executing a client program to provide a user identifier (ID) for making an initial access to an online service at a server through a network; and

a server program executing on the server to;

receive the initial access to the online service from the client;

determine whether the user ID provided by the client is a valid user ID; and

when the user ID is determined by the server program to be invalid;

automatically generate a user ID;

display a user interface (UI) including the user ID;

retrieve any change to the user ID via the UI; and

enable the client to make subsequent accesses to the online service using either the original or the changed user IDs without acquiring personal information about the client.

54. The system as defined in claim 53, wherein the automatically generating the user ID further comprises generating the memorable user ID without requiring the prospective user to input personal information about the client.

55. The system as defined in claim 53, wherein the automatically generating the user ID further comprises generating the memorable user ID without prompting the prospective user to input the personal information.

56. The system as defined in claim 53, wherein the automatically generating the user ID further comprises generating the memorable user ID so as to conform to a predetermined syntax.

57. The system as defined in claim 53, wherein the server program executing on the server further detects a geographic region from any automatic number identifier (ANI) information from a telephone number of a dial-up connection connecting the initial access to the online service, wherein the automatically generating the memorable user ID further comprises forming the memorable user ID to include an association with the detected geographic region.

58. The system as defined in claim 53, wherein:

the receiving of the initial access to the online service from the client further comprises receiving a product identifier from the client;

the automatically generating the memorable user ID further comprises forming the memorable user ID to include the product identifier; and

the product identifier is selected from the group consisting of a good, a service, and a provider of goods and/or services.

59. The system as defined in claim 53, wherein the server program executing on the server further forms the memorable user ID to include:

a word from one or more word lists; and

an optional number, whereby the memorable user ID is unique.