Method and system for providing interstitial notice

• US 7,107,309 B1
• Filed: 07/03/2002
• Issued: 09/12/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Anderson, David J., Geddes, Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): Dinh, Khanh
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Van Kim T.
• Application Number:
  US10/190,367
• Time in Patent Office: 1,532 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709217-219, 709/224
• US Class Current: 709/203
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/561 Adding application-functional data or data for application control, e.g. adding metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/567 Integrating service provisioning from a plurality of service providers

Abstract

A method and system for notifying a user that the user is engaging in interstitial communication. An intermediation system within an HTTP communication path between a content server and a client station engages in interstitial communication with a client station. During the interstitial communication, the intermediation system sends one or more interstitial screens to the client station and includes in each screen a predefined interstitial notice. Further, to help safeguard against the possibility that a third party will try to provide the interstitial notice within an HTTP response to the client station, the intermediation system can be arranged to detect and strip the interstitial notice from any such HTTP response.

Claims

1. A method comprising carrying out the following functions within an intermediation system disposed within an HTTP communication path between a content server and a client station:

engaging in interstitial communication with the client station;

during interstitial communication, sending to the client station one or more interstitial screens, each such interstitial screen including a predefined interstitial notice;

detecting the predefined interstitial notice in an HTTP response message received by the intermediation system;

determining that the predefined interstitial notice detected in the HTTP response message is invalid;

in response to a determination that the predefined interstitial notice detected in the HTTP response message is invalid, stripping the predefined interstitial notice from the HTTP response message so as to establish a modified HTTP response message; and

sending the modified HTTP response message along the HTTP communication path to the client station.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the intermediation system is operated by an intermediary, and wherein the interstitial notice reflects an identity of the intermediary.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the HTTP communication path extends via an access channel to the client station, and wherein the intermediation system is disposed within the access channel.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the client station is a mobile station and the access-channel comprises a wireless link to the mobile station.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined interstitial notice has a form selected from the group consisting of (i) display text, (ii) graphic and (iii) media presentation.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a message to the client station indicating that a wrongful attempt has been made to insert the predefined interstitial notice into the HTTP response message.

7. An intermediation system disposed within an HTTP communication path between a client station and a content server, the intermediation system comprising:

interstitial-communication logic for engaging in interstitial communication with the client station, wherein the interstitial-communication logic sends to the client station one or more interstitial screens, each such interstitial screen including a predefined interstitial notice; and

notice-management logic for (i) detecting the predefined interstitial notice in an HTTP response message received by the intermediation system, (ii) determining that the predefined interstitial notice detected in the HTTP response message is invalid, and (iii) in response to a determination that the predefined interstitial notice detected in the HTTP response message is invalid, stripping the predefined interstitial notice from the HTTP response message before sending the HTTP response message along to the client station,

whereby the client station receives the HTTP response message with the predefined interstitial notice stripped from the HTTP response message.

8. The intermediation system of claim 7, wherein:

the interstitial-communication logic comprises machine language instructions executable by a processor; and

the notice-management logic comprises machine language instructions executable by a processor.

9. The intermediation system of claim 7, wherein the intermediation system is operated by an intermediary, and wherein the interstitial notice reflects an identity of the intermediary.

10. The intermediation system of claim 7, wherein the HTTP communication path extends via an access channel to the client station, and wherein the intermediation system is disposed within the access channel.

11. The intermediation system of claim 7, wherein the client station is a mobile station and the access-channel comprises a wireless link to the mobile station.

12. The intermediation system of claim 7, further comprising:

a network interface for receiving and sending communications along the HTTP communication path, wherein the interstitial-communication logic sends the one or more interstitial screens to the client station via the network interface.

13. The intermediation system of claim 7,

wherein the interstitial-communication logic sends each interstitial screen to the client station as markup language in an HTTP response, and

wherein the markup language defines the predefined interstitial notice in a manner such that a browser at the client station will present the interstitial notice to a user of the client station when presenting the interstitial screen to the user.

14. The intermediation system of claim 13, wherein the markup language defines the predefined interstitial notice in a form selected from the group consisting of (i) display text, (ii) graphic and (iii) media presentation.

15. The intermediation system of claim 13, wherein the client station includes reserved display screen space, and wherein the markup language defines the predefined interstitial notice to be displayed in the reserved display screen space,

whereby the client station displays the interstitial notice in the reserved display screen space.