JP2003523650A - Method and apparatus for establishing and maintaining internet domain name registration - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: A method and apparatus for performing a transaction related to the management of an Internet domain name establishes a connection between an application program of another user and a registrar of the Internet domain name via the Internet. Authenticating the user's right to request that a transaction be performed, establishing a secure socket layer within the connection, and processing commands after such authentication.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[Related Application] This application is US provisional application No. 60/153 filed on Sep. 15, 1999.
Claim the benefits of 960. The disclosure of this provisional application is incorporated herein by reference. Co-pending US Patent Application No. 0, filed April 6, 2000
The contents of 9 / 544,305 are also incorporated herein by reference. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the field of domain name registration. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing an application program interface for enabling registration and maintenance of internet domain names. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION With the explosive growth of the Internet, the process of registering domain names (also known as web addresses) and subsequent administrative work, such as orderly management of owner changes and updates. Is needed. Until recently, Network Solutions, Inc, in Herndon, Virginia, was at least ".com, .net,
Domain name registration ("DNRs") for domain names ending in ".org and .edu"
It was an exclusive entity that intervened in acquiring and registering. In such a role, Network Solutions, Inc is known as a Registrar. Nearly 5 million web addresses have been registered by Network Solutions, Inc.

Currently implemented systems for registering web addresses mostly rely exclusively on using email between the user and the registrar at each step of the process. For example, FIG. 4 shows a sequence of steps for registration. Customer (registered person) prepares to register new web address (100)
.

The registered person fills in necessary items in the service agreement (102). The service agreement is submitted by email to a registrar, such as hostmaster@internic.net (step 104). A tracking number is automatically assigned to the request (106
). The service agreement is automatically error checked (108). If there are no errors, the service agreement is processed and upon completion, the enrollee is notified via email (112). Web address registration is completed by a message. For example, this message may be: "Your web address registration is complete" (step 114). Customer is sent an invoice for web address registration (step 116) and pays for registration (step 118)
.

Finally, the registrar sends a re-registration notice to the registrant 60 days before the second year from the initial registration date (step 120). If there is an error in the service agreement, the registration process is not complete and the customer is sent an email notifying them of the problem (step 110).

No particular inconvenience occurs during the effective operation of the process. Most notably, the use of the Internet for email notifications is generally not based on "real time". In particular, in some parts of the world where internet support structures are not fully established, emails can sometimes take days to be delivered. In addition, the recipient has to ask to resend the message, causing further delays and ruining the email.

Furthermore, recently, a concept called “hole sailing (wholesale)” has spread. Hole sailing allows other parties, such as internet service providers (“ISPs”), internet hosting providers, internet portals, and e-commerce providers to reserve such DNRs for their customers. . As a result, such an entity acts as the customer's own registrar by providing the customer with an interface.
This interface allows both educated and educated users to interface with the enrollment process and subsequent administration. But eventually the DNR is still published by the registrar, Network Solutions, Inc.

By thus expanding the number of sales channels for securing DNR, systems and methods for facilitating hole sailing have been developed.

[0008] Network Solutions, Inc.
WSP ”) is provided. WSP is Network Solutions, Inc (“NSI”)
Establishing a system and providing support for interfaces that enable real-time programming for product purchasing and management. Such systems allow users to register and complete the process, regardless of their proficiency in computer technology in general and Internet in particular. WSP
Interacts with the NSI Wholesale system over the Internet by using a simple, connection-based, synchronous, ASCII text-based protocol. This allows Wholesaler to securely, reliably create, modify, and delete various products, including customer account and Internet domain name registration and management.

The WSP consists of a series of commands that a whole sailor can issue to create a customer or domain name related product. Each command returns a series of "properties" and major and minor error codes. Often, the result of one command is used as input for the next command.

Wholesale commands are either synchronous or asynchronous. In general, customer creation and management commands are synchronous, whereas domain creation and management commands are asynchronous. A "quickest possible" performance system for asynchronous commands maintains a queue to ensure that order is not lost in the event of external system problems. Whereas a typical synchronous response is less than a few seconds,
For example, the asynchronous time to complete registration is typically less than a few minutes.

There are two fundamental defense mechanisms in the NSI Wholesale system. All hole sailors use Secure Sockets Layer (“SSL”) NS
You must connect to the I Wholesale system and provide the IP address from the address that established this connection. The hole sailor must also use the account number and password when issuing session commands. NSI
Will provide such account number and password to the hole sailor in advance. While such systems have many advantages over the prior art, there is a need for them to be generally available.

Therefore, at present, other users' computer applications
What is needed is a method and apparatus that provides an application program interface that allows programs to access wholesale systems and perform transactions related to WSP registration and management of Internet domain names. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To achieve the above objectives and other advantages, and in accordance with the objectives of the present invention as embodied and broadly described herein, the present invention provides for the interaction of users and systems over the Internet. Establish a connection between them, authenticate the user's right to conduct transactions related to the management of Internet domain names, establish a secure socket layer within the application program interface and system, and initiate transactions following such authentication. In order to receive a request from the application program to the application program interface, which in turn transmits a command to the system that initiates the transaction. A system for performing a transaction relating to the management of the domain name, to a method and apparatus for interfacing a user application program.

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention with the description hereof, and serve to explain the principles of the invention. . DETAILED DESCRIPTION The preferred embodiments of the present invention and the examples illustrated in the accompanying drawings will be described in detail below. Throughout the drawings, the same or similar elements will be denoted by the same reference symbols as much as possible.

In order to establish a connection to a system for conducting transactions relating to the management of Internet domain names, the method and apparatus provide an application program interface accessed by a user application program.

Referring to FIG. 1, a computer application program 12 typically provides an interface to a user for collecting customer data.
To establish a session with the wholesale system 16 and issue various commands via the Internet 10, the computer application program 12 typically issues a session request to the application program interface.

The WSP Java API 14 is effectively a WSP Java “wrapper (w
"rapper)". This wrapper has two main classes: NSIW
It consists of a hallesale API and a WSPResponse. NSIW
The hallesale API contains all the methods for creating customers, products and services. WSPResponse is a single class returned by most methods, containing the result of the command request issued, and optionally,
It will include the additional data generated by the request.

One advantage of using the WSP Java API 14 is NSIWhole.
Once the saleAPI object is created, this object is to create a "pool" of SSL connections to the wholesale system 16. Such a class eliminates the need to issue a "session" command and removes the burden of making and managing an SSL connection from a hole sailor. Multithreaded applications may use such connection pools.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the present invention. User 20 sends a request to application program 12 to perform a transaction related to the management of an Internet domain name. The application program 12 typically provides an interface to the user to collect customer data.
Application program 12 typically establishes a session with wholesale system 16 via Internet 10 by issuing a session request to application program interface 14. The application program interface 14 uses the application program 12
By performing a connection to the wholesale system 16 using the user account information received from, the user's right to make a transaction will be authenticated. If you fail to authenticate, application program interface 1
4 attempts two additional authentications. The application program interface 14 sends the authentication result to the application program 12. Upon successful authentication, the application program interface 14 establishes a secure socket layer with the wholesale system 16. The application program 12 sends a request to the application program interface 14 to make a series of commands available through instantiating objects of the NSIWholesaleAPI class. The application program 12 can send a request to any of the object methods to request processing of the command. The application program interface 14 will receive the command request along with any data.
The application program interface 14 formats data and commands into strings, as described in detail in co-pending US patent application Ser. No. 09 / 544,305, supra. The application program 14 then transmits the request to the wholesale system 16 via the Internet 10 to initiate the transaction. Wholesale system 16 will process the request and return the transaction result to application program interface 14 via the Internet. The application program interface 14 sends the response to the application program 12.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a computer environment for implementing a method consistent with the present invention. A component is provided to the user 20 that sends a request to the application program 12 to perform a transaction related to managing an Internet domain name. Application program 12 typically provides an interface to user 20 to collect customer data. Application program 12 typically establishes a session with wholesale system 16 via Internet 10 by issuing a session request to application program interface 14. A component is further provided to authenticate the rights of the user 20 to make a transaction. The application program interface 14 will authenticate the user's right to make a transaction by attempting to connect to the wholesale system 16 using the user account information received from the application program 12. If it fails to authenticate, the application program interface 14 attempts two additional authentications. The application program interface 14 sends the authentication result to the application program 12. Upon successful authentication, in order to establish a secure socket layer,
Further components are provided. The application program interface 14 establishes a secure socket layer with the wholesale system 16. Further components are provided for initiating a transaction following successful authentication. The application program 12 is NSIWhole.
Through instantiating an object of the saleAPI class, a request is sent to the application program interface 14 to make a series of commands available in the wholesale system 16. The application program 12 can send a request to any of the object methods to request processing of the command. Application program
The interface 14 will receive the command request along with any data. Further components are provided to carry commands through the Secure Sockets Layer. Co-pending US patent application Ser. No. 09/544, mentioned above
, 305, application program interface 14 formats data and commands into strings.
The application program 14 then transmits the request to the wholesale system 16 via the Internet 10 to initiate the transaction. Wholesale system 16 processes the request and returns the transaction result to application program interface 14 via the Internet. The application program interface 14 is the application program 1
Send reply to 2.

The name of the WSP Java API configuration file is WSP Java API. con
It is typically f. Such files contain specific information about each wholesale user. When the wholesale agreement is completed by the registrar, eg NSI, the values for the parameters in that file are provided. The file contains the following parameters.

[0021]

[Equation 1]

The value indicated by “X” changes for each user. The definition of each of these parameters is as follows.

[0023]   Configuration file parameters

[0024]

[Table 1]

[0025]   Class hierarchy

[0026]

[Equation 2]

The NSIWholesale API class is a new NSIWholesale
Construct an instance of the API object. The methods of this object can be called to perform wholesale related work, for example, to connect to the wholesale system 16 via SSL over the Internet. In addition, the NSIWholesaleAPI class allows computer application programs 12 to generate and manage Internet domain names. The NSIWholesale API class definition includes:

[0028]

[Table 2]

[0029]

[Table 3]

[0030]

[Table 4]

[0031]

[Table 5]

[0032]

[Table 6]

[0033]

[Table 7]

[0034]

[Table 8]

[0035]

[Table 9]

[0036]

[Table 10]

The WSPResponse class represents the various components of a WSP response. A WSPResponse will be returned in response to a command request issued through the application program interface 14. The response describes the result of the issued request in as much detail as possible and optionally includes additional functionality generated by the request. The result consists of a "result code" followed by a descriptive "result message". The result code consists of a major result code, a period (".") Following it, and a minor result code following it.

The three digit major result code generally indicates the success or failure of the issued request. In most cases, one or more properties will be returned. The 3-digit minor result code can give additional information about the major result code. Each command request may have its own set of minor result code values, or it may have a value (000). The WSPResponse and its result codes are described in more detail in the aforementioned co-pending US patent application Ser. No. 09 / 544,305. A result property consists of a property key, followed by a colon (":"), and a property value. In some results, plain text is returned (eg, information returned from the Help command). The result properties are described in more detail in the aforementioned co-pending US patent application Ser. No. 09 / 544,305. The WSPResponse class definition includes:

[0039]

[Table 11]

[0040]

[Table 12]

The NSIWholesaleException class is a user-defined exception class. This class indicates the particular error thrown by the method in class NSIWholesaleAPI. Specifically, the exceptions of the class NSIWholeleException are (a) when the class initialization fails, (b) when the class initialization does not succeed, and NSIWholes
reconfigure the NSIException issued at a lower level when the method of the aleAPI is called, (c) the command cannot be completed (eg due to communication problems), or (d) to give additional context information. It is emitted by doing.

The class WSPException is the parent of the wholesale protocol exception class, which handles the response sent by the wholesale server 16 to the computer application program 12. This WSPException class is a service class and is not used explicitly. The WSPException class has a basic method for storing error information common to all exception classes.

Class InvalidArgumentException and Class In
validResponseFormatException is WSPExce
It is a child subclass of ption. Both methods are WSPException
It has the same internal functionality as. In addition, because the classes are independent, those methods that receive the exception that are thrown identify the type of error detected, even if the error context information is the same. Specifically, if the data returned by the wholesale server 16 as part of the command is invalid,
WSPResponse class is InvalidArgumentExcept
emit ion. If the data returned by wholesale server 16 as part of the command is not properly formatted, WSPResponse
The class is the class InvalidResponseFormatExceptio
emit n. The NSIWholesaleException class definition includes:

[0044]

[Table 13]

[0045]   The class definition for WSPException includes:

[0046]

[Table 14]

The class definition of InvalidArgumentException is as follows.

[0048]

[Table 15]

The class definition of InvalidResponseFormatExtension includes:

[0050]

[Table 16]

The invention is further clarified by the following example showing a computer program file for creating a session with a wholesale system for initiating a wholesale operation. This computer program file is only one example of the present invention.

[0052]

[Equation 3]

The WSP Java API 14 executes WSP. WSP Java A
Whenever PI 14 is used, the first step is to initialize the session,
Then create an instance of the class to reference the method. Each call to a method is an instance of a single protocol exchange. Each call contains all the necessary information (eg customer identification, contact information). There is no information carried over between each method except session information.

As the example shows, the first invocation routine of WSP Java API 14 causes the class method NSIWholesaleAPI. The init initializes the interface to the wholesale system 16. The second call creates an instance of the class NSIWholesaleAPI, which makes the application program 12 available a method for sending commands to the wholesale system 16. The application program 12 can now send command requests to the application program interface 14. The final call ends the session with the wholesale system 16 via the shutdown method.

In the above description, if the matters related to Network Solutions, Inc and NSI are given as an example, the related matters included in the examples given from classes, methods, constructors, drawings, etc. are merely examples. However, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiment.

Although the above description is based on a client-server architecture, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other types of architectures may be used without inconsistent with the present invention. Furthermore, while the above description is based on software embodiments, other embodiments may be used without inconsistent with the present invention. Moreover, while the above description is based on the Java language, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other types of languages can be used consistent with the invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments and methods disclosed herein, but the invention includes all embodiments within the scope of the claims.

The above description has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to limit or exhaust the invention to the exact form disclosed, as various modifications are possible in light of the above teachings, and are also obtained from practice of the invention. it can. The principles of the invention and its practical application will enable those skilled in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and variations that are commensurate with the intended application.

[0058]   The class definition of NSIWholesaleAPI is as follows.

[0059]

[Equation 4]

[0060]

[Equation 5]

[0061]

[Equation 6]

[0062]

[Equation 7]

[0063]

[Equation 8]

[0064]

[Equation 9]

[0065]

[Equation 10]

[0066]

[Equation 11]

[0067]

[Equation 12]

[0068]

[Equation 13]

[0069]

[Equation 14]

[0070]

[Equation 15]

[0071]

[Equation 16]

[0072]

[Equation 17]

[0073]

[Equation 18]

[0074]

[Formula 19]

[0075]

[Equation 20]

[0076]

[Equation 21]

[0077]

[Equation 22]

[0078]

[Equation 23]

[0079]

[Equation 24]

[0080]

[Equation 25]

[0081]

[Equation 26]

[0082]

[Equation 27]

[0083]

[Equation 28]

[0084]

[Equation 29]

[0085]

[Equation 30]

[0086]

[Equation 31]

[0087]

[Equation 32]

[0088]

[Expression 33]

[0089]

[Equation 34]

[0090]

[Equation 35]

[0091]

[Equation 36]

[0092]

[Equation 37]

[0093]

[Equation 38]

[0094]

[Formula 39]

[0095]

[Formula 40]

[0096]

[Formula 41]

[0097]

[Equation 42]

[0098]

[Equation 43]

[0099]

[Equation 44]

[0100]

[Equation 45]

[0101]

[Equation 46]

[0102]

[Equation 47]

[0103]

[Equation 48]

[0104]

[Equation 49]

[0105]

[Equation 50]

[0106]

[Equation 51]

[0107]

[Equation 52]

[0108]

[Equation 53]

[0109]

[Equation 54]

[0110]

[Equation 55]

[0111]

[Equation 56]

[0112]

[Equation 57]

[0113]

[Equation 58]

[0114]

[Equation 59]

[0115]

[Equation 60]

[0116]

[Equation 61]

[0117]

[Equation 62]

[0118]

[Equation 63]

[0119]

[Equation 64]

[0120]

[Equation 65]

[0121]

[Equation 66]

[0122]

[Equation 67]

[0123]

[Equation 68]

[0124]

[Equation 69]

[0125]

[Equation 70]

[0126]

[Equation 71]

[0127]

[Equation 72]

[0128]

[Equation 73]

[0129]

[Equation 74]

[0130]

[Equation 75]

[0131]

[Equation 76]

[0132]

[Equation 77]

[0133]

[Equation 78]

[0134]

[Equation 79]

[0135]

[Equation 80]

[0136]

[Equation 81]

[0137]

[Equation 82]

[0138]

[Equation 83]

[0139]

[Equation 84]

[0140]

[Equation 85]

[0141]

[Equation 86]

[0142]

[Equation 87]

[0143]

[Equation 88]

[0144]

[Equation 89]

[0145]

[Equation 90]

[0146]

[Formula 91]

[0147]

[Equation 92]

[0148]

[Equation 93]

[0149]

[Equation 94]

[0150]

[Formula 95]

[0151]

[Equation 96]

[0152]

[Numerical Expression 97]

[0153]

[Equation 98]

[0154]

[Numerical expression 99]

[0155]

[Equation 100]

[0156]

[Equation 101]

[0157]

[Equation 102]

[0158]

[Equation 103]

[0159]

[Equation 104]

[0160]

[Equation 105]

[0161]

[Equation 106]

[0162]

[Equation 107]

[0163]

[Equation 108]

[0164]

[Equation 109]

[0165]

[Equation 110]

[0166]

[Equation 111]

[0167]

[112]

[0168]

[Equation 113]

[0169]

[Equation 114]

[0170]

[Equation 115]

[0171]

[Equation 116]

[0172]

[Expression 117]

[0173]

[Equation 118]

[0174]

[Equation 119]

[0175]

[Equation 120]

[0176]

[Equation 121]

[0177]

[Equation 122]

[0178]

[Equation 123]

[0179]

[Equation 124]

[0180]

[Equation 125]

[0181]

[Equation 126]

[0182]

[Equation 127]

[0183]

[Equation 128]

[0184]

[Numerical Expression 129]

[0185]

[Equation 130]

[0186]

[Equation 131]

[0187]

[Equation 132]

[0188]

[Expression 133]

[0189]

[Equation 134]

[0190]

[Equation 135]

[0191]

[Equation 136]

[0192]

[Equation 137]

[0193]

[Equation 138]

[0194]

[Equation 139]

[0195]

[Equation 140]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 Application program interface, WSP Java API
Is a diagram showing a preferred embodiment of the present invention that implements WSP functionality in a set of Java object classes.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a method for interfacing a user application program with a system for conducting transactions related to Internet domain name management.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a device for interfacing a user application program with a system for conducting transactions related to Internet domain name management.

[Figure 4]   It is a figure which shows the sequence for domain name registration by a prior art.

[Procedure for Amendment] Submission for translation of Article 34 Amendment of Patent Cooperation Treaty

[Submission date] November 19, 2001 (2001.11.19)

[Procedure Amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Name of item to be amended] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Contents of correction]

[Claims]

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (81) Designated countries EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, I T, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE), OA (BF, BJ , CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG), AP (GH, GM, K E, LS, MW, MZ, SD, SL, SZ, TZ, UG , ZW), EA (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, TM), AE, AG, AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BY, BZ, C A, CH, CN, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DK, DM , DZ, EE, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, JP, K E, KG, KP, KR, KZ, LC, LK, LR, LS , LT, LU, LV, MA, MD, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, MZ, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, R U, SD, SE, SG, SI, SK, SL, TJ, TM , TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, UZ, VN, YU, ZA, ZW (72) Inventor Nakure, Sujata             United States, Virginia 20171, Ha             Redon, Wheeler Way 13100 (72) Inventor Taylor, Bryan             United States, Virginia 20147, A             Schwan, Mandalay Court 20690 (72) Inventor Brem, Lawrence M.             United States, Virginia 22207, A             Lynton, Old Dominion Dora             Eve 4706 (72) Inventor Morston, David             United States, Virginia 20171, Ha             Redon, Farm Buggy Court             2401 F-term (reference) 5K030 GA15 MD07

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A method of interfacing a user application program with a system for conducting transactions relating to the management of Internet domain names, for establishing a session between a user and the system via the Internet. A step of receiving a request from the application program at an application program interface, authenticating a user's right to perform a transaction related to management of the Internet domain name, and a secure socket layer in the application program interface and in the system And establishing the application program from the application program to initiate the transaction following such authentication. A system for performing a transaction related to the management of an Internet domain name, comprising the steps of receiving a request at an interface and transmitting a command from the application program interface to the system initiating the transaction, a user application program How to interface. 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of notifying the application program regarding the processing status of the command. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein said notifying step comprises returning a response to said application program, including a statement indicating whether said transaction has completed. 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the statement comprises a message that includes an ASCII text portion followed by a delimiter portion. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the ASCII text portion is selected from a predefined dictionary of statements. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the authentication of the user is determined from an internet protocol address, the secure socket layer encryption, a username and password provided by the application program. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the authenticating step comprises at least one additional attempt step to authenticate the user following a first failed attempt. 8. The at least one additional attempt to authenticate the user fails, and subsequent attempts to authenticate are rejected following the at least one additional attempt. The method described in. 9. An apparatus for interfacing a user application program to a system for conducting transactions related to Internet domain name management, said apparatus connecting a user and the system via the Internet. To establish
A component for receiving a request from the application program, a component for authenticating the right of the user to perform a transaction related to management of the Internet domain name, and a component for establishing a secure socket layer in the device. Following such authentication, and also upon receiving a request from the application program, a component for initiating a transaction and further a command for initiating the transaction via the secure socket layer. Device for interfacing a user application program to the system for conducting transactions related to the management of Internet domain names, which consists of components for transmitting to the system