Method and apparatus for conducting an information brokering service
First Claim
1. A computer implemented method for conducting an online information brokering service, the method comprising acts of:
- permitting free access to an online community, hosted by a distributed computer system accessed by a plurality of registered users through a web based interface, wherein the plurality of registered users provided free access to the online community comprise content provider users, and wherein the online community hosts dynamically created content received from at least some of the plurality of registered users, wherein the dynamically created includes tickets generated by respective users and respective opinions generated by respective users regarding the tickets;
permitting, in a user interface displayed on a host computer system, a creation of a ticket by at least one content provider user, the ticket comprising at least one observation generated by the at least one content provider user;
presenting, by the distributed computer system, the ticket within the online community;
limiting, by the computer system, submission of a respective opinion regarding the ticket to the content provider users;
accepting, in a respective user interface displayed on a respective host computer system, from any of a plurality of content provider users, a respective opinion regarding the ticket;
collecting a plurality of respective opinions regarding the ticket from the plurality of content provider users;
determining, by the distributed computer system, a consensus of opinion among the plurality of content provider users regarding the at least one observation of the ticket, based at least in part on the plurality of respective opinions of the plurality of content provider users;
controlling, by the distributed computer system, access to at least one of the determined consensus and the plurality of respective opinions, wherein the act of controlling includes;
permitting free access by the plurality of content provider users to the ticket and the plurality of respective opinions regarding the ticket;
requiring payment by the at least one information consumer in order to access the at least one of the determined consensus and the plurality of respective opinions; and
ranking, by the distributed computer system, at least one content provider user, wherein the act of ranking the at least one content provider user includes acts of;
determining a level of participation in the online community,calculating a value determined from opinions submitted by other users of the online community regarding the at least one content provider user'"'"'s participation in the online community, andcombining the determined level of participation and the value determined from opinions submitted by other users to determine the at least one content provider user'"'"'s rank.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method is provided that provides an early indication of consensus of opinion among a number of users regarding an event or observation indicated by a user. Such an opinion may be interesting to an information consumer, who may be interested in determining the outcome of the consensus relating to the event or observation, or may otherwise desire to perform surveillance or survey of a particular issue or subject. Such recognition of early events or observations may be useful in different areas, such as healthcare, finance, etc., where initial observations, if provided early, allow resulting decisions to be made much earlier. The opinion may, for instance, be used as an early indicator of problem with a product, company, etc. that would permit an information consumer to perform an action at a much earlier point than if he/she relied on traditional sources of information. Thus, such opinion information may be invaluable as a tool for monitoring events.
192 Citations
48 Claims
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1. A computer implemented method for conducting an online information brokering service, the method comprising acts of:
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permitting free access to an online community, hosted by a distributed computer system accessed by a plurality of registered users through a web based interface, wherein the plurality of registered users provided free access to the online community comprise content provider users, and wherein the online community hosts dynamically created content received from at least some of the plurality of registered users, wherein the dynamically created includes tickets generated by respective users and respective opinions generated by respective users regarding the tickets; permitting, in a user interface displayed on a host computer system, a creation of a ticket by at least one content provider user, the ticket comprising at least one observation generated by the at least one content provider user; presenting, by the distributed computer system, the ticket within the online community; limiting, by the computer system, submission of a respective opinion regarding the ticket to the content provider users; accepting, in a respective user interface displayed on a respective host computer system, from any of a plurality of content provider users, a respective opinion regarding the ticket; collecting a plurality of respective opinions regarding the ticket from the plurality of content provider users; determining, by the distributed computer system, a consensus of opinion among the plurality of content provider users regarding the at least one observation of the ticket, based at least in part on the plurality of respective opinions of the plurality of content provider users; controlling, by the distributed computer system, access to at least one of the determined consensus and the plurality of respective opinions, wherein the act of controlling includes; permitting free access by the plurality of content provider users to the ticket and the plurality of respective opinions regarding the ticket; requiring payment by the at least one information consumer in order to access the at least one of the determined consensus and the plurality of respective opinions; and ranking, by the distributed computer system, at least one content provider user, wherein the act of ranking the at least one content provider user includes acts of; determining a level of participation in the online community, calculating a value determined from opinions submitted by other users of the online community regarding the at least one content provider user'"'"'s participation in the online community, and combining the determined level of participation and the value determined from opinions submitted by other users to determine the at least one content provider user'"'"'s rank. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 46, 47, 48)
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41. A system, including at least one processor operatively connected to a memory, for conducting an online information brokering service, the system comprising:
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a computer interface displayed to at least one user, configured to permit free access to an online community by a plurality of registered users, wherein the plurality of registered users provided free access are comprised of content providers, and wherein the online community hosts dynamically created content received from at least some of the plurality of registered users, wherein the dynamically created includes tickets generated by respective users and respective opinions generated by respective users regarding the tickets; a generation component configured to permit, in a user interface displayed on a host computer system, a creation of a ticket by the at least one content provider, the ticket comprising at least one observation generated by the at least one content provider; a collection component configured to receive a plurality of respective opinions on the at least one observation from a plurality of content providers, wherein the collection component is further configured to limit the submission of a respective opinion on the at least one observation to content provider users, and wherein the collection component is further configured to determine a consensus of opinion based at least in part on the plurality of respective opinions on the at least one observation; an access component configured to; notify at least one information consumer that the ticket comprising the at least one observation was generated, permit free access to the ticket and the plurality of respective opinions by the plurality of content provider users, and permit the at least one information consumer to access at least one of the consensus of opinion and any respective opinion only in response to the at least one information consumer having paid for access to the ticket; and a ranking component configured to rank at least one content provider user, wherein the ranking component is further configured to; determine a level of participation in the online community, calculate a value determined from opinions submitted by other users of the online community regarding the at least one content provider user'"'"'s participation in the online community, and combine the determined level of participation and the value determined from opinions submitted by other users to determine the at least one content provider user'"'"'s rank. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45)
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Specification