Method, system and computer-readable medium for conducting domain name service

• US 8,015,317 B2
• Filed: 08/28/2006
• Issued: 09/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Ventures I LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Hoshiko LLC (Raoul Management LLC)
• Inventors: Shuster, Brian Mark, Shuster, Gary Stephen
• Primary Examiner(s): FADOK, MARK A
• Application Number:
  US11/511,134
• Publication Number:
  US 20060293973A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,835 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 705/27, 709/245
• US Class Current: 709/245
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/30 Types of network names
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/30 Managing network names, e.g. use of aliases or nicknames name-to-address mapping H04L61/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/3015 Name registration, generation or assignment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A method for conducting Internet domain name service to users connected to the Internet comprises an automated procedure for transferring Internet domain name service from a domain name owner to a domain name manager. This method further comprises Internet sub-domain name services to prospective buyers based on domain names transferred to the domain name manager. Messages requesting domain name service, including requests from domain name owners to sub-license their particular domain name to prospective sub-domain name buyers and from prospective sub-domain name buyers to license available sub-domain names, are received and responded to by an automated domain name management system. This automated domain name management system further comprises an interactive website which includes a database, search engine, and Web server.

Claims

1. A method for assigning domain names configured according to a domain name system, the method comprising:

by a subdomain management system comprising computer hardware;

receiving requests from respective domain name holders for a subdomain licensing service;

communicating with domain name servers to effect reassignment of name service records for fully-qualified domain names belonging to one or more of the respective domain name holders, whereby the fully-qualified domain names are associated with at least one IP address of the subdomain management system;

providing a service confirmation message to the one or more of the respective domain name holders from which fully-qualified domain names have been reassigned;

accessing a database of subdomain labels for the fully-qualified domain names, wherein each subdomain label is not associated with an IP address in the name service records, the database relating each subdomain label to a user-determinable address for content and to at least one of the fully-qualified domain names; and

communicating with network users to relate via the database user selected subdomain labels with user selected ones of the fully-qualified domain names to provide subdomain names without authorization from the domain name holders, each subdomain name comprising a fully-qualified domain name and at least one subdomain label to the left of the fully-qualified domain name, wherein the subdomain management system belongs to a separate entity from the domain name holders and the network users.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a request for content, comprising a domain name configured in accordance with the domain name system, the domain name comprising a fully-qualified domain name and at least one subdomain label to the left of the fully-qualified domain name.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising directing the request to the user-determinable address related to the at least one subdomain.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the directing step further comprises directing the request to the user-determinable address comprising a network address.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the directing step further comprises directing the request to the user-determinable address comprising an address configured independently of the domain name system.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising serving content in response to the request.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining information for payment for relating user selected subdomain labels to fully-qualified domain names in the database.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising crediting a portion of the payment to a holder of the fully-qualified domain name.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the accessing step further comprises accessing the database including subdomain labels associated as lower-level domains of other subdomain labels, wherein multiple subdomain labels are related to corresponding ones of the user-determinable addresses.

10. A system for aggregating a plurality of fully-qualified domain names for independent licensing of subdomain labels related thereto, the system comprising:

a subdomain management system, comprising a server connected to a network and operably associated with a database and with a memory, the memory holding instructions configured for execution by the system in order to;

receive requests from respective domain name holders for a subdomain licensing service;

communicate with domain name servers to effect reassignment of name service records for fully-qualified domain names belonging to one or more of the respective domain name holders, whereby the fully-qualified domain names are associated with at least one IP address of the subdomain management system;

access the database, wherein the database includes subdomain labels for the fully-qualified domain names, wherein each subdomain label is not associated with an IP address in the name service records, the database relating each subdomain label to a user-determinable address for content and to at least one of the fully-qualified domain names; and

communicate with network users to relate via the database user selected subdomain labels with user selected ones of the fully-qualified domain names to provide subdomain names, each subdomain name comprising a fully-qualified domain name and at least one subdomain label to the left of the fully-qualified domain name, wherein the subdomain management system belongs to a separate entity from the domain name holders and the network users.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the instructions further comprise receiving a request for content, comprising a domain name configured in accordance with a domain name system, the domain name comprising a fully-qualified domain name and at least one subdomain label to the left of the fully-qualified domain name.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the instructions further comprise directing the request to the user-determinable address related to the at least one subdomain label.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein said directing further comprises directing the request to the user-determinable address comprising a network address.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein said directing further comprises directing the request to the user-determinable address comprising an address configured independently of the domain name system.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the instructions further comprise serving content in response to the request.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the instructions further comprise obtaining information for payment for relating user-selected subdomain labels to fully-qualified domain names in the database.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the instructions further comprise crediting a portion of the payment to a holder of the fully-qualified domain name.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the instructions further comprise instructions for maintaining the database including subdomain labels associated as lower-level domains of other subdomain labels, wherein multiple subdomain labels are related to corresponding ones of the user-determinable addresses.

19. A tangible computer-readable medium having instructions encoded thereon, wherein the instructions are readable by a computing system in order to cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:

receiving requests from respective domain name holders for a subdomain licensing service;

acquiring authority to license subdomains associated with one or more of the respective domain name holders;

providing a service confirmation message to the one or more of the respective domain name holders from which authority to license subdomains has been acquired;

determining subdomains available for licensing; and

providing a search of the available subdomains to network users to enable the networks users to request rights to use respective available subdomains, wherein the computing system belongs to a separate entity from the domain name holders and the network users.

20. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise receiving a request from at least one of the network users to sub-license at least one of the available subdomains.

21. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 20, wherein the operations further comprise obtaining information for payment for sublicensing the at least one of the available subdomains.