JP2002094504A - Billing system for internet utility charge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To clearly display the presence of a charge to be burdened by an Internet user. SOLUTION: The billing system consists of an Internet utility terminal 101 and an Internet server 103 provided with Internet utility charging devices 105-110 and with a free home page database 109 that stores charging transfer information to transfer the Internet utility charge to be imposed on the user to a home page opening party and bill the charging on the home page opening party. The charging device 105 changes over the Internet utility charge billed on the home page opening party onto the user when the Internet utility terminal switches the connection from the free home page into a pay home page and displays information denoting revision of a charging destination on the Internet utility terminal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an Internet usage fee charging device, and more particularly to an Internet usage fee charging device capable of clearly displaying whether or not an Internet usage fee is charged.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 11-345163 entitled "Internet terminal device and information management device" discloses that an Internet user pays a line connection fee (communication fee) and a line usage fee (information fee), respectively. It is shown that the user can refer to such information, receive services such as sending and receiving mails and transferring files.

[0003] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-78129 discloses a method of charging an information communication network, which detects an address on a network of a server device specified when a user terminal receives information distribution from the server device. Based on the address and the charge management information, it is determined whether or not the server device is subject to information provider billing, and if it is determined that the server device is subject to information provider billing, the information distribution is performed. A charging method of an information communication network that executes a charging process for a provided information provider is shown.

[0004]

As described above, the Internet usage fee, that is, the line connection fee (communication fee)
Alternatively, the line usage fee (information fee) can be borne by the user or the creator of the homepage established on the WWW server on behalf of the user.

[0005] By the way, when using the Internet, the user pays a usage fee (communication charge or information charge) by the user, and a free homepage which pays the Internet usage charge by the creator of the homepage on behalf of the user. Access only one of them or randomly. Therefore, the user may not be able to clearly grasp whether or not the user accesses the free homepage while using the Internet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems. When an Internet user connects to a free homepage, the Internet usage fee is transferred to the homepage creator and charged, and information indicating a billing destination is displayed. In addition, the present invention provides an Internet usage fee charging device capable of clearly displaying that a user is accessing a free or paid homepage.

[0007]

The present invention employs the following means in order to solve the above-mentioned problems.

An Internet usage terminal, an Internet usage fee charging apparatus, and an Internet server having a free homepage database storing charge transfer information for transferring an Internet usage fee to be charged to a user to a homepage establisher for charging. Become
When the Internet use terminal switches from the free home page to the pay home page and connects, the charging apparatus switches the Internet usage fee to be charged to the user to the user of the home page from charging to switching to charging to the user and changing the charging destination. Is displayed on the terminal using the Internet. Also, when a connection is switched from a paid homepage to a free homepage, the same can be displayed.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an Internet usage fee charging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 101 denotes an Internet use terminal, 102 denotes Internet use software such as a browser running in the Internet use terminal 101, 10
Reference numeral 3 denotes an Internet server. The Internet user can access the connection line 1 from the Internet use terminal device 101.
15 to the Internet server 103.
Reference numeral 104 denotes an authentication processing unit for performing an identity verification process of an Internet user, and reference numeral 105 denotes a charging information acquisition unit, which is a free homepage (a homepage in which an Internet usage fee is borne by a homepage creator instead of a user) or a paid homepage. (Homepage for which the user is charged for the usage fee), the time when the access was started, the time when the access was ended, and the data transfer amount were obtained.
The acquired data is stored in the accounting log 110. Reference numeral 106 denotes a billing information calculation unit, which refers to data representing the access destination (URL) stored in the billing log 110, the URL of the free homepage read from the free homepage database 109, and the ID of a user to be free, and performs the access. If the destination (URL) and the ID of the accessing user are the URL of the free homepage registered in the database and the ID of the user to be free of charge, it is determined that the charge is to the free homepage establisher; It is determined that the charge is to the user. Next, an amount to be charged is calculated for each charging destination, and the calculation result is transmitted to the billing processing unit 108. Reference numeral 107 denotes a charging processing timer activation unit, which activates the charging information calculation unit 106 at regular intervals. Reference numeral 108 denotes a billing processing unit which issues a bill for a usage fee via the output device 111. If the user is performing an account debit procedure, automatic debit is performed from the designated account, and a usage statement is issued via the output device 111. Reference numeral 109 denotes a free homepage database, which stores a URL of the free homepage and an ID correspondence table of free users. An accounting log device 110 records an access start time and an access end time for each accessed paid homepage and free homepage. 111 is an output device such as a printer, 112 is a communication network such as the Internet, 113 is a free homepage established by a WWW server connected to the communication network, 114
Is a paid homepage established by a WWW server connected to a communication network.

After the authentication of the Internet user by the authentication processing unit 104, the Internet server 103 obtains the free homepage 113 connected to the communication network 112 or the paid homepage 114 from the URL of the homepage requested by the Internet use software.
The data of the homepage is downloaded from the Internet, and the file is transferred to the Internet use software 102 so that the homepage can be referred to.

Further, it is possible to provide its own WWW server in the Internet server 103 itself. In this case, the customer service can be implemented by operating the own WWW server as a free WWW server.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing of the charging information acquisition unit 105. First, in step 201, when the user logs in to the Internet server 103, the current charging state for the user is set free. In step 202, the URL of the home page designated by the user for reference is acquired. Step 203
, The acquired URL is compared with the registered contents of the free page database 109, and if the acquired URL is a free homepage, the process proceeds to step 204; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 209. In step 204,
It is determined whether or not the current billing state for the user is free. If free, the process proceeds to step 207; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 205. In step 205,
From now on, a message to the effect that reference to the homepage is free will be displayed to notify the user to that effect. This step can be omitted. In step 206, the user is set free of charge. In step 207, W for opening the free homepage 113
Start charging for the WW server. In step 208, the homepage data is downloaded from the free homepage 113 based on the URL designated by the user, and the file is transferred to the Internet usage software 102 to display the free homepage.

In step 209, it is confirmed whether or not the current billing state for the user is pay. If the charge is pay, the process proceeds to step 213;
Go to 10. In step 210, a message is displayed to the effect that reference to the home page will be charged, and the user is asked for consent to that effect. In step 211, it is determined whether or not the user has accepted. If yes, the process proceeds to step 212; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 202.
Proceed to. In step 212, the user is charged for the charge. In step 213, charging for the user is started.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing of the charging processing timer starting unit. First, in a step, the current time is periodically monitored, and it waits until a preset start time of the charging process comes. When the start time of the billing process comes, the process proceeds to step 302. In step 302, the billing information calculation process described later by the billing information calculation unit 106 (FIG. 4)
Execute In step 303, the billing processor 10
8, a billing request process (FIG. 5) described later is executed.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing of the charging information calculation unit. First, in step 401, the accounting log stored in the accounting log device 110 is read. In step 402, one access record including an access start log and an end log corresponding to the access is acquired from the accounting log. In step 403, it is determined whether or not the access record is an access record of a registered user for a free homepage. When the access record is the access record of the registered user to the free homepage, the process proceeds to step 404, and the free homepage establishment fee is charged. Otherwise, step 40
Proceed to 5 to charge the user. In step 406, it is determined whether an unprocessed access record remains in the accounting log. If an unprocessed access record remains, the process proceeds to step 402; otherwise, the process ends.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing of the billing processor. First, in step 501, the accounting information calculated by the accounting information calculation unit 106 is acquired. In step 502, one piece of billing information for the creator of the free homepage or billing information for the user is acquired from the billing information calculation unit 106. In step 503,
It is determined whether there is a charge amount. If there is a charge, the process proceeds to step 504; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 508. At step 504, it is determined whether or not the free homepage creator or user who is the charging target has opened a debit account. If a debit account has been opened, the process proceeds to step 505; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 507. In step 505, a debit process is performed from the designated account, and in step 506, a usage statement is output via a printer or the like. In step 507, the bill is output via a printer or the like. In step 508, it is determined whether or not all the billing processes for the establisher or user of the free homepage have been completed. If all the processes have been completed, the process ends. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step 502.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a charge management table obtained by the charge information obtaining unit from the free homepage database and the charge log device. In the figure, reference numeral 601 denotes an administrator table for registering an administrator who manages a free homepage. The administrator table registers the name of the administrator and the administrator ID in association with each other. The administrator ID is used in the table data 602 instead of the administrator name.

Reference numeral 602 denotes a billing data table. In the billing data table 602, 603 is the administrator I
D. 604 is a data type, 1 is the URL of the home page, 2 is a file name that can be transferred, and 3 is an e-mail address. A data body 605 is composed of character strings such as a URL of a homepage, a file name, and an e-mail address. 606 is the data body 6
05 is supplementary information when the URL is a homepage, and "FREE" is a URL indicated by the data body 605.
L represents a free homepage. Also, "RE
“AD” indicates that when a URL indicating free is registered in a higher-level URL, only this URL is not free. “500” is a fixed amount of information fee, and indicates that a fee is charged to the user. Reference numeral 607 denotes data indicating the service start date and time, and indicates the start date and time of the expiration date of the table. Data 608 indicates the service end date and time, and indicates the end date and time of the expiration date of the table. That is, the effective range of the table is from the date and time indicated by the table 607 to the date and time indicated by 608. Reference numeral 609 denotes a user ID that can access the free homepage for free. When the user who can access for free logs in to the free homepage, the user ID is provided to the charging information acquisition unit. ALL-USER is a reserved user ID, and represents all users who can log in to the Internet server 103. Reference numeral 610 denotes a spare area, which is used as a storage unit for supplementary information when the data body 605 is an e-mail address. Also,
“1,000,000” in this area is a number indicating the upper limit of the size that can be transmitted free of charge. Reference numeral 611 denotes another table of the billing data table 602, which can be used when setting the user ID which can be accessed free of charge to a plurality of persons.

By using the billing data table 602, it is possible to provide, on a free homepage provided by the Internet server 103, list information of homepages that can be referred for free. Therefore, even a user who does not know the existence of the free homepage 113 can be notified of the existence of the free homepage. At this time, by referring to the user ID 609, a free homepage corresponding to the user can be introduced. Also,
An e-mail transmission fee via the Internet can be charged to the recipient.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the contents of a billing log output by the billing information acquisition unit. The billing log contains the user ID 701,
URL 702 of the accessed homepage, the URL
A log time 703 indicating the time when the access was started or the time when the access was completed, START if the log was the time when the access was started, and END if the log was the time when the log was started was indicated by END. A file transfer amount 705 indicating the transferred data transfer amount (the number of bytes) is provided, and these data are output as a text format in which data is separated by (comma). The file transfer amount 705 is used when charging based on the transfer amount (the number of bytes) of the data transferred by the access.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing message information displayed on the Internet user terminal. FIG. 8A shows a message displayed when the connection destination of the Internet user terminal is switched from a free homepage to a paid homepage. This is displayed in step 210 shown in FIG. FIG. 8B shows a message displayed when the connection destination of the Internet use terminal is a free homepage, which is displayed in step 205 shown in FIG.
FIG. 8C is a message displayed when the connection destination of the Internet use terminal is charged for the information fee of the homepage.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing of the charging information acquisition unit 105 in the case where there is a mail transmission request from the user. First, in step 900, a transmission request from a user is waited, and when a transmission request is detected, the process proceeds to step 901. In step 901, an e-mail is transmitted. In step 902, it is determined whether the mail can be sent free of charge. At the time of judgment, FIG.
605, data 607 and 608 indicating the expiration date of the service, a user ID 609 of a user who can send mail free of charge, and an e-mail registered in the spare area 610 in the data table 602 shown in FIG. Refer to the transmission data size of. If it is determined that the mail can be sent for free, step 90
4; otherwise, to step 903. In step 903, a billing process for the user is performed. In step 904, a billing process is performed on the receiver.

FIG. 10 shows an example in which the user ID 60 in the data table 602 shown in FIG. 6 is accessible when the user is charged in step 213 shown in FIG.
9 is a diagram showing a process for updating No. 9; FIG. Step 25
0, the URL or file transfer referred to by the user is monitored, and it is determined whether or not the accessible user ID 609 should be updated. If it is determined that the user ID 609 should be updated, the process proceeds to step 251 to update the table. That is, the URL that can be accessed free of charge can be changed at any time according to the user's reference to the URL and the status of use. Thereby, the WWW server can dynamically change the free and paid services to be opened.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the communication fee or the information fee for accessing the homepage is reduced by WWW.
The server side can be charged, and the user can refer to the home page for free. Also, when the communication fee or the information fee is transferred to the WWW server side and billing information is displayed, the fact that the user is accessing a free or paid homepage can be clearly displayed.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an Internet usage fee charging apparatus capable of clearly displaying whether or not the Internet usage fee is charged.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an Internet usage fee charging apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating processing of a charging information acquisition unit.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a process of a charging process timer starting unit.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating processing of a charging information calculation unit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating processing of a billing processing unit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a charge management table.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the contents of a billing log.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a message displayed on the Internet user terminal.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating processing of a charging information acquisition unit.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a process for updating an accessible user ID.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Internet use terminal 102 Internet use software 103 Internet server 104 Authentication processing unit 105 Billing information acquisition unit 106 Billing information calculation unit 107 Billing processing timer activation unit 108 Billing processing unit 109 Free homepage database 110 Billing log device 111 Output device 112 Communication line Network 113 Free homepage established by WWW server 114 Paid homepage established by WWW server

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An Internet-based terminal having Internet browsing software, transmitting data specifying a terminal and data specifying a storage location of browsing information to a WWW server to request transfer of the information, and charging a user. A free homepage database storing charging transfer information for transferring and charging the Internet usage fee to be established to the homepage owner, and an Internet usage fee to be charged to the user and an Internet usage fee to be charged to the free homepage establisher. Each of the Internet servers is provided with a charging device that performs a charging process, and the charging device transfers the Internet usage fee to be charged to the user to the homepage establisher when the Internet usage terminal switches from the free homepage to the paid homepage and connects. Accounting apparatus for internet usage fee and displaying the information representing the change of the charging destination with switch to charge for the user from the charging performed. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the billing device displays a message to the effect that the Internet user terminal is switched between a pay homepage and a free homepage when the connection is made. Internet usage billing device. 3. The free homepage database according to claim 1, wherein the free homepage database stores charging transfer information for transferring a mail transmission fee to a mail receiver and charging the mail. An Internet transmission fee billing device, which charges a mail transmission fee to be charged to a mail recipient. 4. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising switching means for switching between display and non-display of the switching message. 5. A step of connecting to an Internet use terminal, a step of referring to a free homepage database storing charge transfer information, and deciding a payee of an Internet use charge to said Internet user or homepage creator; A method of charging an Internet usage fee, comprising: displaying a message to the effect of changing the destination; and charging the charging destination determined in the step.