JP2000151811A - Internet connection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the internet connection device where users can browse advertisements served by sponsors on the internet without burdening a connection charge at all so as to increase number of browsed advertisements thereby enhancing the advertisement effect. SOLUTION: A user uses authentication information open to the public by a sponsor to allow a terminal equipment 5 to access a telephone number of a call tariff collect call service open to the public. The internet connection device uses the telephone number for a free access point 4, permits connection to only a WWW server open to the public by the sponsor to the terminal equipment 5 through dial-up IP connection by the authentication information, stores the connection history and imposes the call tariff of the collect call service and the connection utility charge of the internet connection device onto the sponsor. Thus, the user can browse the advertisement of the sponsor on the internet free of charge without making contract with a commercial provider.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an Internet connection device for connecting a terminal device of a user, for example, owned by a commercial provider and connected by a dial-up IP to an Internet connection destination requested by the terminal device. The present invention relates to an Internet connection device that allows a user to browse Internet advertisements free of charge according to a connection fee burden on an advertiser providing an advertisement from a WWW server.

[0002]

[Prior art]

In recent years, attention has been paid to the dramatic increase in the frequency of use of the Internet, and an advertising method of providing product information and company introductions online from a WWW server by using the Internet commercially has been widely adopted. .

FIG. 6 shows a conventional online advertisement system 100 disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-83678.
01 is provided.

The online advertising system 100 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. A user terminal device 101 is connected to the Internet by a dial-up IP connection with an Internet connection device 102 of a commercial provider. For this purpose, from the terminal device 101 via the modem 103 and the public telephone network (PSTN),
By accessing the telephone number of the access point 104 of the commercial provider and transmitting authentication information including a connection account and a password given in advance by the commercial provider, the connection to the Internet connection device 102 is permitted.

[0006] On the other hand, the advertiser (company A) provides a telephone number for a toll payment service such as toll-free (registered trademark) along with a product advertisement from the WWW server 105 connected to the Internet. This service pays the call charge of the public telephone line to the called party and pays the call charge on the advertiser (company A) side, thereby facilitating the purchase of the product when the user orders the advertisement product by telephone. Things.

[0007] After a dial-up IP connection is established between the Internet connection device 102 of the commercial provider and the terminal device 101, the user accesses the WWW server 105 for providing the advertisement of the company A on the Internet using the WWW browser, and The product advertisement and the like can be browsed on the display 101. When the user purchases the product, the user calls the telephone charge of the caller's payment service at the above-mentioned call rate displayed on the display, orders the product, and purchases the product.

[0008]

As described above, the call fee caller payment service in which the call charge of the public telephone line is paid to the callee is used for a part of commodity transactions using the Internet, but the Internet itself is not used. The public telephone line call charges and Internet connection charges to commercial providers when using the Internet service are burdened on the user, and the advertising effect of the product advertisement using the Internet is limited.

[0009] Further, even when such actual product transactions are not intended, there are a large number of advertisers who intend to provide information using the Internet only for corporate PR activities and product advertisements. However, even if the user bears the connection fee, the potential demand of the advertiser to increase the number of browsing of the homepage opened by the user and to improve the advertising effect is high.

However, in the Internet connection system via an existing commercial provider, the call charge of the public telephone line and the Internet connection charge to the commercial provider must be borne by the user, and the above-mentioned demand cannot be satisfied. Was.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and allows a user to browse an advertisement provided by an advertiser on the Internet without paying any connection fee. It is an object of the present invention to provide an Internet connection device that can increase the number of browsing and increase the advertising effect.

[0012] It is another object of the present invention to provide an Internet connection apparatus that allows a WWW server side of an advertiser to grasp an estimate of a call charge of a public telephone line and an Internet connection charge generated when a user browses an advertisement. And

[0013] It is another object of the present invention to provide an Internet connection apparatus that can easily introduce an Internet connection system paid by an advertiser to another Internet connection apparatus that uses another telephone number of another service for receiving a call charge as an access point. And

[0014]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an Internet connection apparatus, comprising: a free access point for connecting to a public telephone network with a telephone number of a call charge person paying service; Means, filter information storage means for storing an Internet connection destination address to which an advertiser provides an advertisement in association with the authentication information, and authentication information input from a user terminal device via a free access point. When the authentication information matches any of the authentication information stored in the authentication information storage means, a user authentication means that permits connection of the terminal device to the Internet, and a connection destination of the terminal device permitted to connect, An access restricting unit for restricting a connection destination address associated with the matched authentication information, Connection time, and a log storage unit that a predetermined time period stored in association with at least authentication information,
Based on the total connection time within a predetermined period totalized for each authentication information, an advertiser who has disclosed the authentication information is charged for a telephone charge for a public telephone network and an Internet connection charge.

When the terminal device accesses the free access point using the authentication information provided by the advertiser, the terminal device matches the authentication information stored in the authentication information storage means, so that the connection is permitted and the access restriction means ,
The connection destination is limited to an Internet connection destination address provided by an advertiser who has disclosed authentication information.

Therefore, in the connection via the free access point, only the advertisement provided by the advertiser whose authentication information has been disclosed can be browsed on the Internet.

The connection time between the user's terminal device and the advertiser's WWW server is stored in the log storage means for each authentication information. The total connection time for browsing can be counted.

The call charge of the public telephone line via the free access point is temporarily charged to the commercial provider. The call charge and the Internet connection charge of the commercial provider are obtained from the total connection time for each advertiser. And the billing process can be performed separately for each advertiser.

Therefore, the user can browse the advertisement provided by the advertiser without paying any charge for the Internet connection, so that it is possible to increase the total number of browsed advertisements and improve the advertisement effect. it can.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the Internet connection device, during a connection time with the terminal device of the user, a verification code for specifying authentication information permitted to connect to a part of the user IP address assigned to the terminal device. It is characterized by including.

When the connection of the terminal device is permitted, a user IP address is assigned to the terminal device during the connection time of the terminal device. When transmitting the packet data from the terminal device to the WWW server on the advertiser side, the user IP address is written in the header as a source network address.

Therefore, if the user IP address includes a collation code for specifying the authentication information, the connection time with the terminal device connected using the authentication information can be reduced by the WWW on the advertiser side.
It can be grasped on the server side, and can be compared with the total connection time to the advertiser obtained on the commercial provider side.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the Internet connection device stores the authentication information stored in the authentication information storage means and the connection destination address associated with the authentication information stored in the filter information storage means with another service for the call charge caller payment service. The information is transmitted to another Internet connection device including a free access point connected to a public telephone network by a telephone number, an authentication information storage unit, a filter information storage unit, a user authentication unit, an access restriction unit, and a log storage unit. I do.

A similar system can be constructed only by setting a free access point for another Internet connection device and storing authentication information and a connection destination address associated with the authentication information. Therefore, it is possible to set up a free access point for each area by forming a partnership between another commercial provider located in a remote area and a commercial provider, and reduce the call rate of the call charge incoming payment service.

[0026]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the Internet connection device 1 according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an entire system in which a user browses an advertisement of an advertiser using the Internet connection device 1. The advertisers (company A and company B) respectively have a WWW server 2. 3 provides their own product advertisements and company PR information. In addition, these advertisers (A
Company B, etc.), such as product newspapers, magazines, or other websites on the Internet,
Along with the URL addresses of the WWW servers 2 and 3 that provide R information and the like, authentication information for connecting to the URL addresses free of charge, and the telephone number of a call fee caller payment service (hereinafter referred to as a free call service) are disclosed. ing.

In this embodiment, for example, Company A publishes an account “def” and a password “321” as authentication information, and Company B, another advertiser, discloses an account “abc” and a password “321”. 123 "has been released. Note that the authentication information does not necessarily need to be a combination of an account and a password, and only one of them may be used as the authentication information.

The telephone charge using the telephone number of the free call service is calculated by setting the telephone number to the free access point 4.
However, as long as you browse the advertisement provided by the advertiser on the Internet, the call charge of the free call service and the Internet connection charge of the commercial provider will be charged to the advertiser. A contract is signed beforehand between the advertiser and the commercial provider.

When the user wants to browse the advertisement of the company A on the Internet, for example, the terminal device 5 such as a personal computer of the user's laptop.
To the free access point 4 designated by the telephone number of the published free call service. That is, the user operates the modem 6 connected to the terminal device 5.
Using a public telephone network (PSTN: Public)
Switched Telephone Network
k) to access the telephone number of the disclosed free call service via terminal device 5 and free access point 4
Dial-up IP connection. In this dial-up IP connection, the user is unaware of the existence of a commercial provider having the free access point 4, and therefore uses the Internet connection device 1 of the commercial provider without making a prior use contract with the commercial provider. Is what you do. In addition, since the call to the telephone number of the free access point 4 is paid by the called party, the user does not bear the call charge of the public telephone network (PSTN).

The Internet connection device 1 of a commercial provider is intended to provide Internet access to an unspecified number of users. However, in order to avoid its abuse, an advertiser who has previously contracted with the commercial provider ( A
Only when browsing the advertisement of company B, the connection is permitted.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the Internet connection apparatus 1. The Internet connection apparatus 1 is an authentication server that manages authentication information such as a user account and a password in addition to the above-mentioned free access point 4. 7, an access server 8 for assigning a user IP address, connecting a user to the terminal device 5 and controlling a connection destination, a DNS server 9 for converting a domain name of a connection destination into an IP address, and transmitting predetermined information to the Internet. Provided WWW server 10 (not used in this embodiment), router 1 connected to the Internet
1 and the like, which are connected to each other by a LAN.

The authentication server 7 is connected to a user management database 12 as an authentication information storage unit. In the user management database 12, as shown in FIG.
Authentication information including a user account and a password is stored. Among the authentication information disclosed by the advertiser, a filter information address is stored in association with the authentication information in order to restrict the connection destination. Authentication server 7
Compares the authentication information transmitted from the terminal device 5 with the authentication information stored in the user management database 12 each time a new connection request is received from the terminal device 5 of the user,
If it does not match any of them, it is determined that the connection is unauthorized or incorrect, and the determination information for disconnecting the connection is output to the access server 8. If any of the authentication information matches, the filter information address associated with the authentication information is stored together with the determination information for permitting and logging on the connection, and the filter information address is accessed. Output to the server 8.

The user management database 12 contains:
In addition to these authentication items, to limit or manage the connection with the user, such as the total connection time within a unit period for each user account, the connection time for each access, the number of connection lines with the same account, etc. Various types of information are stored as restrictions, and if these restrictions apply, even if the authentication information matches the stored authentication information, determination information for disconnecting the connection is output to the access server 8. There is.

The access server 8 disconnects the connection with the terminal device 5 or permits the connection based on the determination information. When the connection is permitted, a user IP address indicating the address of the terminal device 5 is assigned at the same time and used until the connection with the terminal device 5 is disconnected. The user IP address is arbitrarily set in the commercial provider so as not to be duplicated at the same time. However, in the case of a connection permitted by authentication information published by the advertiser, the user IP address is assigned to each advertiser. A collation code is assigned to a part of the code and used as a user IP address.

For example, the verification code of Company A is "20",
Assuming that the verification code of the company is “21”, the account “def” and the password “321” are required to browse the advertisement of the company A.
The terminal device 5 permitted to connect by the authentication information of “XX”
X. XXX. 20. The user IP address of “YYY” enters the account “ab” in order to view the advertisement of company B.
c ”and the terminal device 5 permitted to connect by the authentication information of the password“ 123 ”,“ XXX.XXX.21.YY ”.
A user IP address “Y” is assigned. Here, X is an arbitrary number determined by the commercial provider, and YYY is a number from 1 to 255 that does not overlap with a user IP address assigned to another terminal device connected at the same time. Assigned. Therefore, according to this allocation method, up to 255 terminal devices can be simultaneously browsed on the Internet for each advertiser such as company A, company B, etc. Can be connected at the same time.

The access server 8 is connected to a filter information database 13 for storing restricted connection destinations. In the filter information database 13, the IP address of the WWW server 2, 3 that provides the advertisement is stored in the filter information address stored in association with the authentication information published by the advertiser. For example, the filter information address associated with the authentication information of the company A (user account abc, password 123) is # 1 (see FIG. 3), and the advertisement of the company A is stored in the address # 1 of the filter information database 13. I of the WWW server 2 to be provided
The P address (○ .．. ○ .．.．. ○) is stored (see FIG. 4).

The access server 8 sends a message from the authentication server 7
When the filter information address is input together with the determination information for permitting the connection, the connection destination is limited by referring to the filter information address in the filter information database 13. Specifically, the user IP address that is the source network address of the packet data transmitted from the terminal device 5 is the user IP address assigned when the connection is permitted with the authentication information disclosed by the specific advertiser. In this case, the connection destination is limited to only the connection destination IP address recorded in the filter information address input from the authentication server 7 when the connection is permitted. That is, in the packet data transmitted from the terminal device 5, the DNS server 9 converts a specific URL address on the Internet, which is the destination of the packet data, into a connection destination IP address.
Only when the connection destination IP address matches the connection destination stored in the filter information address, the packet data is transmitted to the requested connection destination via the router 11. As a result, for example, the terminal device 5 permitted to connect with the authentication information of the company A (user account abc, password 123) receives the A
The connection destination can be controlled by the access server 8 so that it can be connected only to the WWW server 2 that provides the advertisement of the company.

It should be noted that the number of connection destinations is not necessarily limited to one. When an advertiser provides an advertisement from two or more WWW servers, it is possible to connect only to the two or more connection destinations. It may be.

A log file 14 is connected to the access server 8, and a connection history of packet data passing through the access server 8 is recorded for a certain period. As shown in FIG. 5, the connection history information recorded in the log file 14 is all information relating to the connection with the terminal device 5 to which the user IP address is assigned and the connection is permitted, and the user account and the password for each connection. , Session time (including start time, end time), user IP
Attributes such as an address, a connection destination IP address, and a communication speed are recorded. Therefore, the information recorded in the log file 14 can be searched for each attribute and can be counted.

In the present embodiment, the total connection time for browsing the advertisement on the Internet for each advertiser is counted for a certain period (for example, one month), and the free call is calculated based on the total connection time. Calculate the call charge and Internet connection charge paid by the commercial provider of the service, and charge the advertiser. For example, the connection for browsing the advertisement of the company A uses the IP address of the WWW server 2 to which the company A provides the advertisement as the connection destination IP address.
When the start time of the session time is during a specific period (for example, from July 1 to July 31) and the connection destination IP address is the IP address of the WWW server 2,
By extracting from the log file 14 and calculating the total connection time in the connection history, the total connection time during which the advertisement of Company A was browsed during July can be calculated. In this calculation, since the connection for browsing the advertisement of the company A includes the collation code "20" in the user IP address, the connection of the user IP address including the collation code is extracted, and the total connection time is calculated. A total may be calculated.

It should be noted that the actual talk time by the free call service requires a little time from connection to the free access point 4 to receiving the connection permission and receiving the user IP address. This is slightly longer than the total connection time.

On the other hand, of the packet data passing through the WWW servers 2 and 3 on the advertiser side, the terminal device 5 permitted to connect by the authentication information published by the advertiser is transmitted via the commercial provider. The packet data has a user IP address including the verification code of the advertiser. Therefore, on the advertiser side, from the connection log files (not shown) of the WWW servers 2 and 3 that provide the advertisement, the user IP including the verification code of the advertiser is read.
By extracting the connection history of the address and calculating the total connection time, the total connection time can be compared with the total connection time for each advertiser calculated by the commercial provider.

That is, even if the advertiser shares the Internet connection device 1 including the free access point 4 with a plurality of other advertisers, the advertiser is charged incorrectly for viewing the advertisement of the other advertiser. In addition, the advertiser can check the billing status.

As described above, according to the Internet connection device 1 according to the present embodiment, the user does not need to sign a usage contract with a specific commercial provider and does not bear any fee, and can use the Internet connection device 1 on the Internet. If you are able to view ads from a particular advertiser, but are a traditional user with a contract with this commercial provider,
By accessing the telephone number of another access point 15, a predetermined terminal device 5 can be freely connected to the Internet.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, a specific user who has a usage contract with this commercial provider issues authentication information (eg, user account ghi, password 456) such as a user account and password from the commercial provider. Since the authentication information has been received and the authentication information is also stored in the user management database 12, the terminal device 5 'of the user who transmitted the authentication information via another access point 15 is permitted to connect.
Normally, this authentication information is not particularly stored in association with a filter information address (see FIG. 3), so that the connection destination on the Internet is not restricted and the Internet can be used freely. it can. However, in this case, the call charge of the public telephone line and the Internet connection charge are borne by the user as before.

When the specific user accesses the free access point 4 with the authentication information issued by the commercial provider, the authentication information matches the one stored in the user management database 12, but the public telephone line The connection fee will not be permitted because the specific user will be charged for the call fee of the user.

As described above, according to the Internet connection apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the hardware owned by the conventional commercial provider and the free access point 4 are separately provided for the specific user's Internet connection. Just use it as it is.

Also, since the present invention uses the main configuration of the hardware owned by the conventional commercial provider as it is, the authentication information disclosed by the advertiser and stored in association with the authentication information. By porting the connection destination address to the Internet connection device 1 'owned by another commercial provider, the present invention can be easily implemented in the commercial provider. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, when partnering with another commercial provider located in a remote place, the other commercial provider can set up a telephone number of a free call service in that area and open a free access point 4 '. The user at the remote location uses the free access point 4 ′ in the area to access the terminal device 16.
By accessing, the free call fee can be saved, the advertiser's connection cost burden can be reduced, and the advertisement can be provided to a wide range of users.

In the Internet connection device 1 'of another commercial provider, if the matching code assigned to each advertiser is assigned to a part of the user IP address, the matching is similarly performed on the advertiser side. In addition, if different verification codes are used for the same advertiser for each commercial provider, the number of accesses to advertisements per free access point, that is, for each region, can be ascertained, and the effect of advertising by region can be investigated. it can.

In the above embodiment, the access destination on the Internet is restricted by the access server 8, but the access restriction means for restricting the destination address may be, for example, the router 11 connected to the Internet. .

In the above-described embodiment, the free access point 4 is accessed directly from the modem 6 using the public telephone line (PSTN). However, the ISDN line via the DSU is transmitted from the user's terminal device 5. May be used to access the free access point 4.

[0053]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the call charge of the public telephone line via the free access point 4 and the Internet connection charge of the commercial provider can be calculated from the total connection time obtained for each advertiser, the charge processing can be performed separately for each advertiser. Users can browse advertisements provided by advertisers without incurring any fees for internet connection. Therefore, it is possible to increase the number of browsing of advertisements provided by the advertiser and to increase the advertisement effect.

Further, the commercial provider can provide an advertiser-paid advertisement providing service on the Internet to a large number of advertisers simply by opening one telephone number of the free call service.

Further, even in the case of providing various kinds of advertisement providing services, the advertiser only discloses the telephone number of one free call service, so that the user can easily remember and promote the browsing of the user. it can.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, furthermore, the connection with the connected terminal device 5 can be grasped by using the publicized authentication information based on the connected user IP address. The total connection time in the advertiser can be ascertained on the WWW server side of the advertiser, and can be compared with the total connection time to the advertiser obtained by the commercial provider.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the free access point 4 is set for the other Internet connection device 1 ', and the authentication information and the connection destination address associated with the authentication information are stored. , A similar system can be constructed.

[0058]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an entire system in which a user according to an embodiment of the present invention uses an Internet connection device 1 to browse an advertisement of an advertiser.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the Internet connection device 1 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining storage contents of a user management database 12;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining storage contents of filter information.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining storage contents of a log file 14;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a conventional online advertising system 100.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Internet connection device 4 Free access point 5 Terminal device 7 Authentication server (user authentication means) 8 Access server (access restriction means) 12 User management database (authentication information storage means) 13 Filter information database (filter information storage means) 14 Log file (Log storage means)

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) H04M 3/00 H04L 11/02 F 5K101 11/00 303 11/20 101B 9A001 15/00 F term (reference) 5B089 GA11 GA21 HA01 HA10 JA22 KA04 KA15 KB13 KC15 KC52 KC58 LB02 LB26 MC03 5K024 AA62 AA77 BB04 BB06 CC09 DD01 EE06 FF04 GG01 GG03 GG05 GG08 GG12 5K025 AA08 BB06 BB10 CC07 DD04 DD05 EE30 EE12 EE12 EE12 EE10 JJ13 JJ18 5K030 GA15 HA06 HB08 HC01 HC02 HD05 JT02 KA05 KA07 LD18 LD20 5K051 AA05 BB02 CC02 DD07 EE01 EE02 EE06 FF02 FF06 FF23 HH18 HH19 KK01 5K101 KK16 KK18 LL02 MM19 NN04 NN03 NN

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A free access point (4) connected to a public telephone network by a telephone number of a caller payment service, and authentication information storage means (12) for storing at least one authentication information published by an advertiser. A filter information storage means (13) for storing an Internet connection destination address to which an advertiser provides an advertisement in association with the authentication information; and a user terminal device (5) via a free access point (4). When the authentication information input from the authentication information storage device matches any one of the authentication information stored in the authentication information storage means (12), the user authentication means (5) permits connection between the terminal device (5) and the Internet. 7) and access to limit the connection destination of the terminal device (5) permitted to connect to the connection destination address associated with the matched authentication information. And limiting means (8), the terminal device and the connection time (5), the log storage means for a predetermined time period stored in association with at least authentication information (14)
Based on the total connection time within a predetermined period totalized for each authentication information, the advertiser who has published the authentication information is charged for the telephone charge of the public telephone network and the Internet connection charge. Internet connection device. 2. A user IP assigned to a terminal device (5) during a connection time of the user with the terminal device (5).
2. The Internet connection device according to claim 1, wherein a part of the address includes a collation code for specifying authentication information for which the connection is permitted. 3. A method for storing the authentication information stored in the authentication information storage means (12) and the connection destination address associated with the authentication information stored in the filter information storage means (13) with another telephone for the call charge caller payment service. A free access point (4) connected to a public telephone network by a number, an authentication information storage means (12), a filter information storage means (13), a user authentication means (7), an access restriction means (8), and a log storage means ( The Internet connection device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the data is transmitted to another Internet connection device comprising: