WO2001035261A2

WO2001035261A2 - Methods and systems for storing data

Info

Publication number: WO2001035261A2
Application number: PCT/US2000/031084
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kevin M. Flynn
Original assignee: Millenniagen Corp.
Priority date: 1999-11-12
Filing date: 2000-11-13
Publication date: 2001-05-17
Also published as: AU1601201A; WO2001035261A8

Abstract

Disclosed is a system for enabling access to digital content. The system includes a computer network, a server connected to the network, a processor for processing data from a client, and an agreement providing for a commitment on the part of a host to provide access to the data of the client over the computer network on a permanent or long-term basis. Data is stored in a relational database for access by a user using the computer network. Embodiments include permanent virtual homes and virtual safe deposit boxes.

Description

METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR STORING DATA

Background of The Invention

1. Field of the Invention This application relates to the field of data storage and more particularly to the field of persistent storage of digitally represented objects.

2. Description of Related Art

Internet growth rates and personal computer (PC) usage and sales continue to grow rapidly. Data from International Data Corporation and Computer Electronics forecast growth of Internet users from 70 million in 1998 to 178 million in 2003 in the United

States alone. Worldwide it is forecast to grow even faster. Therefore it is clear that more and more people will have access to the Internet in the future.

In addition, technological advances have drastically reduced the cost of memory storage. Technology has also advanced in the areas of digitizing and compressing data, video, and audio files. These technological advances, combined with the growth in access to the Internet, create new opportunities and applications.

One such opportunity is the general trend toward moving paper storage and document retention to digitized and computer storage. Therefore, there is a need and opportunity for permanent or long-term storage of data. It is often important that data stored electronically is available when it is stored, and for a long period of time after it is stored.

One of the drawbacks of the increased use of memory for storage and the persistent access of stored data is the need to either maintain the existing storage devices as they become older and outdated, or, to migrate existing storage to new devices. Also, if newer storage devices are used in conjunction with older storage devices, the format of the older data may not be compatible with the new storage devices, causing problems with accessing older data files in formats that are no longer in use.

Persistent data storage is required for data, such as, for example, important financial information. As the reliance of both individuals and businesses upon digitized financial records increases, there is a need for persistent and secure storage for the individual and business digitized financial records and the like. Persistent storage is also needed for other personal information, such as photographs, diaries, letters and the like. Summary Of The Invention

A system is provided herein for providing persistent access to digital content. The system includes a computer network, a server connect to the network, a processor for processing data of a client, a mass data storage facility for storing the data of the client, and an agreement process of a host providing a commitment of the host to provide permanent access to the data over the computer network.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention is a method of doing business. Objects are obtained from a client that are capable of digital representation. The objects are stored in digital form. Additionally, objects are committed to be stored for a period longer than the lifetime of the client.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention is a method of doing business. Objects are obtained from a client that are capable of digital representation. The objects are stored in digital form. The client is permitted to dynamically change the objects during the lifetime of the client. Changes to the objects are prevented after the end of the lifetime of the client. In an embodiment, the objects are stored in a virtual home. In another embodiment, the objects are stored in a virtual safe deposit box.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention is a method of doing business. Objects are obtained from a client that are capable of digital representation.

The objects are stored in digital form. A graphical display is established that is associated with a characteristic of the object wherein the graphical display may be accessed through a site connected to the Internet, and the graphical display includes navigation links that depict objects as an environment of the client. In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention is a method of doing business. Objects are obtained from a client that are capable of digital representation. The objects are stored in digital form. The objects are committed to being stored for a period longer than the lifetime of the user. A graphical display is established that is associated with a characteristic of the object wherein the graphical display may be accessed through a site connected to the Internet. In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention is a method of doing business. Objects that are capable of digital representation are obtained from a client. The objects are stored in digital form. Objects are committed to being stored for a period longer than the life of the client wherein committing to store the objects includes committing to maintain the objects in a form accessible through a computer network..

In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention is a method of doing business. Objects are obtained from a client that are capable of digital representation. The objects are stored in digital form. A time indicator is stored for at least a plurality of the objects. The objects are committed to be stored for a period of time. A graphical representation is provided and associated with the objects. A viewer is enabled to view objects having a time indicator for a selected period of time. In embodiments, a host is obligated to provide services for a time period agreed with the user. In embodiments, the time period is a generation, a lifetime, or a plurality of generations. In embodiments, members of future generations may elect to maintain the persistent data storage. In embodiments, the host system prompts future generations to view the user data, to add to the user content, and/or to maintain the user content. Brief Description Of Drawings

The above-mentioned and other features of the invention will now become apparent by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 depicts an embodiment of a configuration within which the invention may be used;

Fig. 2 depicts a more detailed view of an embodiment of the configuration shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an example of a template;

Fig. 4 is an example of an embodiment of how a user may specify control allowing access to data included in a storage area;

Figs. 5-12 depict an example of an embodiment of the different webpages in a user interface when navigating through a website; Fig. 101 is an example of an embodiment of a home page of a website; Figs. 102- 109 depict an example of an embodiment of web pages illustrating services a host may offer as obtained through the home page;

Figs. 110-114 depict an example of an embodiment of on-line registration to become an owner of a virtual home through the website; Fig. 115 is an example of an embodiment of a web page showing publicly accessible sites;

Fig. 116 is an example of an embodiment of a web page of a virtual sports community;

Fig. 117 is an example of an embodiment of a web page displayed from selecting a desktop tab for storing objects temporarily;

Fig. 118 is an example of an embodiment of a web page displayed from selecting an administration tab for managing on-line folders;

Fig. 119 is an example of an embodiment of a web page displayed when creating a folder; Fig. 120 is an example of an embodiment of a web page displayed when deleting a folder;

Fig. 121 is an example of an embodiment of a web page displayed when checking available disk space;

Fig. 122 is an example of an embodiment of a web page displayed when adding a journal entry;

Fig. 123 is an example of an embodiment of a web page displayed when leaving and receiving messages;

Fig. 124 is an example of an embodiment of a web page displayed when selecting the family community tab; Fig. 125 is an example of an embodiment of a web page displayed when selecting the friends community tab;

Fig. 126 is an example of an embodiment of a web page displayed when selecting the my links tab;

Fig. 127 is an example of an embodiment of a web page displayed when selecting one of the everyday folder, the permanent folder, and an owner's only folder;

Figs. 128 - 139 are examples of web pages accessible from the everyday folder; Fig. 140 is an example of an embodiment of a web page displayed when selecting one of the everyday folder, the permanent folder, and an owner's only folder;

Figs. 141 - 142, 146 - 153, 160, 162, and 163 are examples of web pages accessible from the permanent folder; and Fig. 166 is an example of an embodiment of a web page displayed when selecting one of the everyday folder, the permanent folder, and an owner's only folder.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment(s)

Fig. 1 depicts an embodiment of a configuration 180 within which the invention may be used. The configuration 180 includes a user system 236 as may be connected to a host system 200 using a network connection 210. A user or subscriber 238 can interact with the user system 236, and a host can interact with the host system 202. The network connection 210 may be, for example, the Internet, World Wide Web or other network connection by which a user system 236 may connect to the host system 200. The host system 200 in this embodiment may be a data repository including a computer system and associated storage, as will be described below in more detail in conjunction with other Figures. In an embodiment, the repository may be disaster fortified, may be associated with other redundant systems, or may include redundant elements.

Generally, the host system 200 may be used as a persistent, relatively permanent, data storage location used as a home site for users 238 of the host system 200 for storing virtual homes, environments, and other objects that are capable of digital representation or storage. The host 202 may be an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or other entity or person, providing services to users 238.

In this embodiment, as will also be described in greater detail below, the user 238 may be a visitor 402 or an owner 502 of a site within the host system 200. Generally, there is an owner 502 of a site included in host system 200. The site is an individually owned private "site" which may serve as a relatively permanent, persistent data repository. The site may consist of a set of objects that further consist of items that are capable of digital storage or representation. In embodiments, the objects may consist of or represent real or personal property of an owner 502 of the site. Thus, the site may serve as a virtual property for the owner 502, permitting the owner 502 to permit visitors 402, such as future generations, to visit the site many years after the owner 502 has established the site. The site may also be passed down to future generations as property. Thus, the site is analogous to real property, such as a home, a bank-like vault, a safe-deposit box, or other relatively permanent real-world structure. Moreover, the site may, by files, icons, or folders, or by other graphical representations, such as photographs or schematics, represent a real or fictional environment created by an owner 502. In embodiments, the owner 502 may, for example, create a virtual home that is similar to the real home of the owner 502, so that visitors 402 may take a tour of the home and see and hear objects, such as photographs, videos, films, documents and the like, that the owner 502 places in the home. Many other environments and objects may be established at the site, some of which are described below, but all of which are encompassed herein. Examples include bank-like vaults, towns, cities, safe deposit boxes, safes, banks, stores, buildings, and many others. As mentioned above, a user 238 may be an owner 502 of a site, or a visitor 402. A visitor 402 is generally described as someone visiting the site to view material, rather than to establish or manipulate material. However, an owner 502 may allow all or some visitors 402 to manipulate material in or add material to the site.

The configuration 180 of Fig. 1 is shown as including only one host system 200 and one user system 236 for simplicity in explanation. Other embodiments may include more than one user system 236 and more than one host system 200 providing repository sites to domestic and international user systems 236 and users 238.

The host system 200 may be located in a disaster- fortified facility, such as provided by HarvardNet™, since the data storage is a persistent, relatively permanent storage facility in this embodiment. In one implementation, HarvardNet™ hosts the host system 200. Generally, HarvardNet™ is a disaster-fortified site that is monitored 24 hours a day, and seven days a week. In another embodiment, such a facility may include, for example, significant hardware redundancy, with high transmission speeds, e.g., transmission speeds up to 200 megabytes per second, to handle traffic to and from the host system 200. In addition, multiple redundant sites may be established, to further ensure data integrity and security. An embodiment of a website according to the present invention is shown in Figs.

101 through 163. Each one of these figures represents a web page in the web site. The navigation structure through this example site is shown in Figs. 5 through 12. Fig. 5 shows a starting point, the homepage 101, and locations that a user system 236 can navigate to from the homepage 101. Pages Everyday 127, Permanent 140, and Owner

Only 166 are shown in the bottom right of Fig. 5. Fig. 6 shows the navigation from page

Everyday 127. Fig. 7 shows navigation from page Permanent 140. Pages Audio & Video

141, Personal 146, Photos 154, Family Room 159, Study Desk 160, and Photo Album 165 are shown in Fig. 7. Fig. 8 shows navigation from page Audio & Video 141. Fig. 9 shows navigation from page Personal 146. Fig. 10 shows navigation from page Photos

154. Fig. 11 shows navigation from page Study Desk 160. Fig. 12 shows navigation from page Owner Only 166.

A user 238 first visiting the site may be presented with a page such as that shown in Fig. 101. Initially the user 238 may view some material 410 that tells about the service. This can be in text, video, audio, or other format. A user 238 may also access homes of famous people to learn more about the service, and to enhance their interest in the service. A user system 236 may learn more about the service by going on a marketing tour

412. (See Fig.102). Tours can be designed for kids, adults, or seniors 414 (see Fig. 102).

Tours can also be designed for people of particular backgrounds, vocations, or interests, for example. By clicking on the hyperlink for adults 418 a user system 236 is brought to another page inviting them on a tour (see Fig. 104). By clicking on an icon 420 the user system 236 enters the tour.

The tour begins with a pleasing presentation with text, graphics, and music, for example. In this example each of the small spheres 422 contains a link to a particular presentation. Portions of video presentations are shown in Figs. 107, 108, 108 A, 108B, and 109.

A user 238 may subscribe to the service through an on-line registration process.

Alternatively, a user 238 may subscribe via facsimile, telephone, e-mail, in-person, or by any other way of entering into agreements. A user 238 may deal directly with a provider of the service, or through resellers, distributors, or sales representatives, for example. By clicking on the text "Become an Owner" 424 (see Fig. 101), a hyperlink will bring a user 238 to a first registration page 428 (see Fig. 110). Step one 430 in the registration process requires the entry of user 238 information such as name, address, e- mail, and telephone number 432. A user 238 may also be asked whether he wants his name to be included in a directory 434. A directory can include all owners 502, or only include owners 502 by region, age, interests, etc. (such narrower groupings could be subgroups under a broader directory). Such directories or subdirectories can be the basis for marketing, for example, information, entertainment, products, or services to a target audience. Such directories can also be used to invite owners 502 to chatrooms, for example for virtual town meetings or discussions on particular topics. Once a user system 236 completes step one 430, the user 238 continues to the next part of the registration process.

In a next step 438 the user 238 selects one of one or more offerings 440 as depicted in Fig. 111. Such offerings may vary based on the size of storage to be purchased, services to be provided to the user system 236, payment plans, etc. Once the user 238 has selected an offering, the user 238 proceeds to a next step 442 as depicted in Fig. 112. In step 442 the user system 236 pays for the service. In this example the user system 236 pays by entering credit card information into a template 444 for submission to the service provider. However, payment may be made by various methods, as discussed above.

In a next step 448 depicted in Fig. 113 the user 238 selects a user name and password. This information is used to identify the new owner 502 and to provide security. There is also a place to enter a visitor's key 450. Although not shown, there can be one or more visitor keys, providing different levels of access to the new owner's 502 home 808 (see Figure 132). An Owner 502 can choose what areas of his home 808 and what information can be accessed under each visitor key. Such areas and information may be removed after they are set, or added to by the owner 502. Alternatively, certain visitor keys can be fixed, such as those given to financial institutions, which may be given access to the owner's finances until a loan is paid off, for example. Once step four is completed, the user 238 is registered, and becomes an owner 502 (see Fig. 114). A user 238 entering the website may first be presented with a page such as that shown in Fig. 101. There are three different ways to enter the website in this embodiment. First, a visitor 402 can immediately view public sites 460 without entering any visitor key. These public sites 460 are those which their respective owner's 502 have designated public. Such designation can be made while the owner 502 is alive, or can automatically occur after a specified date set by the owner 502, or can occur after a set period of time after the owner's death, or through any other method of designation. Second, a visitor 402 can enter a visitor key which will grant him access to certain portions of an owner's 502 home 808. There may also be communities created by linking a group of owner's 502 together. In such cases, the owner's may issue visitor keys to the entire community, and a visitor 402 could use that visitor key to enter the community. Third, an owner 502 can enter his own home 808 by using his password. In addition, an owner 502 may let others use his owner's key, such as family members. These family members would be entering the site as if they were owners 502 if they used the owner's key. An owner 502 has access to his entire home 808. The information in the owner's home 808 can be divided into one or more areas. In Fig. 115 at least three areas are shown: everyday 510, permanent, 520, and owner only 530. It is up to the owner 502 to decide how to organize his files. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 15, if the owner 502 clicks on the everyday icon 512 he is connected to the page Everyday 127. An owner 502 can import files into folders, such as a folder named "important"

540 (see Fig. 128). Such a folder may contain important files that need to be filed somewhere else permanently but it is not clear where yet. Or it may contain items of particular importance, such as legal documents, medical information, home information, and children, for example (see Fig. 128). The files in this example are shown in lists under headings, but they can be organized in many ways, including pictorially or otherwise. Files can be imported into an owner's 502 home 808 in many ways, such as by sending a file over a network or e-mail to the host system 200, for example. Alternatively, an owner 502 may submit items to a digitizing service provider via facsimile, mail, in- person or any other way. In such cases the digitizing service provider digitizes the items, whether it be by scanning, photographing, videotaping or otherwise. The digitizing service provider may then send the digitized items to the system, or give the owner 502 the digitized items. The digitizing service provider can be part of the service provider, or possibly a reseller, distributor, or sales representative of the service provider, or an entity independent of the service provider.

An owner 502 can just as easily have other folder besides an important folder 540. An owner 502 could have a family folder 542, where the owner 502 keeps information just on the owner's 502 children or family (see Fig. 129). Or an owner 502 could have a folder focusing on the owner's 502 children's school information 544 (see Fig 130). Another example is a folder with information about family member's sports activities 548 (see Fig. 131). An owner 502 can create as many folders as the owner 502 chooses, so long as the owner 502 has enough space to store all of them. An owner 502 can create new folders and delete folders as discussed earlier (see Figs. 118-120).

The aforementioned folders were in tabular format. However, folders can be arranged pictorially as well. If an owner 502 clicks on the Kitchen file 514 in the everyday area 510 the owner 502 will view the page shown in Fig. 132. Fig. 132 shows a picture of a kitchen and an entranceway to a family room. By clicking on objects in the picture other files can be opened. For example, by clicking on a cabinet 814, a file containing favorite family recipes will be opened (see Fig. 133). The owner 502 can import graphical files that contain such links, or can create such links using tools and scripts provided by the service provider. The service provider may provide templates for the owner 502 to organize and/or display the owner's 502 files. Such templates could include templates for inserting family photos and vacation pictures. Such templates could also include templates for inserting files containing important documents, for example. Other templates could be provided for organizing and playing video. When an owner 502 places a file into the owner's 502 home 808, the owner 502 must decide who will be allowed to see it. The owner 502 would have the option to set the security level of the file at any designated level by only allowing people with certain visitor keys view the file. As discussed previously, there may be one or more levels of security. By clicking on the owner only icon 532 in Fig. 115 an owner 502 is able to view those documents that are only available to the owner 502. Such files 534 in this example are shown on the bottom of the web page in Fig. 127. In this example the folders under owner only folder 530 include Audio/Video, Personal, Legal, and Photos (see Figs. 141, 146, 152, and 154 for the contents of these files in this example).

By clicking on the Permanent folder icon 522 in Fig. 115 those with the necessary key (either visitor key or owner password) can view those folders and files in this area.

Such files 524 in this example are shown on the web page in Fig. 127. In this example the folders under permanent folder 520 include Audio/Video, Personal, Legal, Photos, Family Room, Study Desk, and Photo Album.

Fig. 115 depicts the result of a clickthrough of the icon 990 of Fig. 101 that permits the user 238 to search by group. Fig. 115 is one embodiment of a logical layout method allowing the user 238 to be able to access the large amounts of information they are allowed to access through a more intuitive interface. In this depicted embodiment the interface comprises a collection of folders and buttons allowing items in an owner's 502 home 808 or other object or environment to be arranged in an easily understandable format. In this embodiment the user 238 sees a selection screen 702 where the user 238 is presented with a selection of information. The selection screen 702 comprises a front page for the user 238 allowing general navigation of information that is accessible to them and not necessarily specific to a particular user 238 or owner 502. In Fig. 115 the selection screen 702 comprises choices of different public communities or groups such as the Sports Group 704, the Media Group 708, The Music Group 710, and the Historical Group 712. This is by no means an exhaustive selection of groups, and the selection of groups could include these categories, none of these categories, a selection of these categories, other categories which could be user-defined, defined by the site administrator, or chosen automatically by the host system 200 or any combination thereof. The list of potential groups or other items presented on this selection screen 702 is virtually limitless. In addition to the selection screen 702, the user 238 may be presented with a selection of other displays that are hidden from Fig. 115 but that can be accessed from the screen depicted in Fig. 115. These hidden displays correspond to file tabs in this embodiment and include the Desktop tab 714, the Administration tab 718, the Journal tab 720, the Messages tab 722, the Family Community tab 724, the Friends Community tab 728, and the My Links tab 730. Depending on whether the user 238 is a visitor 402 or an owner 502, these tabs may be present in different combinations. For instance, a visitor 402 may have none, some or all of these tabs present, or certain tabs may be inaccessible. These tabs allow the user 238 to move to different menus in order to more intuitively interact with the site and locate specific information on the site. The resultant screen displays that results upon clicking one or more of these tabs are described below. This list of tabs is not exhaustive and other tabs could be included to access different menus of information. The multiple menus allow the user 238 to have large quantities of information organized in a relatively simple and easy to understand format. They also allow easy access by the user 238 to common or popular functions within the system. The user 238 also sees three file cabinet buttons, the Everyday button 512, the

Permanent button 522 and the Owner Only button 532. These allow the user 238 to access different groups of information based on its desired permanence of storage. In addition, it allows the user 238 to arrange "folders" in logical "cabinets." The Everyday section 510 can be used for items not permanently on the system and can allow storage of information regularly accessed by the user 238, available on the system only temporarily, and/or altered by the user 238. The Permanent section 520 could comprise those items the user 238 wants to insure are stored permanently and does not regularly access. The Owner Only section 530 can comprise those items that only the owner 502 of the site can access and can include items of an extremely personal nature or items the owner 502 has decided not to allow visitors 402 access to. The Owner Only 530 section can also allow more secure storage.

The layout depicted in Fig. 115 is not the only layout for the user 238 and Fig. 115 describes only one preferred embodiment. The logical layout of Fig. 115 could comprise any combination of text, graphical, static, dynamic, animated, and/or audio images allowing a logical grouping of the information in the owner's 502 home 808.

Still referring to Fig. 115, the user 238 can optionally be presented with an advertising banner 732 as part of this display or any other displays on this host system 200.

Fig. 116 shows a potential layout of the Sports group 704 or community. The community organizes various individual Homes of people grouped together by a common thread. In this case the thread is that all individuals shown in the community are sports figures. The names of the figures can be clicked allowing a user system 236 access to information on these particular individuals. As a representative, clicking on the name Babe Ruth 734 would take the user system 236 to a digital representation of the home or other object or environment associated with Babe Ruth. The concept of communities are discussed elsewhere in this application along with possibilities for selecting communities and organizing communities, so that information is not repeated here. Fig. 116 is only one possible method of allowing access to communities, instead of textual representations of homes, graphical representations could be used as could other representations immediately identifiable to those skilled in the art. All such representations are included within the scope of this invention.

Fig. 117 depicts the resultant screen from clicking on the desktop tab 714. The desktop area provides an area 750 where the user 238 can manipulate objects that have been represented on the host system 200. The desktop in one embodiment is primarily an area allowing the user 238 to store objects temporarily before moving the objects to a more appropriate storage area. In addition it allows the user 238 to quickly find new information added to their home 808 instead of having to search for it. In addition this screen allows for the inputting of additional information into the home 808 by providing a Get Something button 752.

Fig. 118 depicts the resultant screen from clicking on the administration tab 718. The Administration area provides the user 238 with an area 754 where they can inspect and modify their existing folders of information. They can also perform administrative tasks involving the layout of the owner's 502 home. It provides command buttons for creating a folder 758, deleting a folder 760, renaming a folder 762, customizing the desktop 764, and checking the available memory remaining in the home 768. These buttons are by no means a limitation on the types of buttons that could be placed in the administrative area, and not all these buttons need to be present to be within the scope of the invention.

Fig. 119 depicts the resultant screen from clicking on the button for creating a folder 758 in Fig. 118. The resultant display depicts queries for creating a new folder including the desired location of the folder 770, which in this particular display comprises a pull down selection menu but need not do so. The display also comprises an area to enter the name for the new folder 772, and a selection of buttons to exit the creation process either with the creation of a folder 774 or not 776.

Fig. 120 depicts the resultant screen from clicking on the button for deleting a folder 760 in Fig. 118. The resultant display depicts queries for deleting a folder. Here the query asks for the location of the folder to delete and provides a prompt to continue 780.

In both Fig. 119 and Fig. 120 specific queries are asked but other queries and methods of presenting queries could be used and still be within the scope of the invention. Screen interfaces for creating or deleting digital data or digital folders are well known to the art and all such alternative embodiments are included within the scope of the invention.

Fig. 121 depicts the resultant screen from clicking the button to check the available memory 768. The display comprises a display showing the user 238 a representation of the amount of memory still available in the home 808. This display is depicted as an expanding bar and textual representation but any type of display including text, graphical static, dynamic and/or animated, audio and or images or any combination thereof could be used to display the remaining memory to the user system 236 and are included within the scope of this invention.

Fig. 122 depicts the resultant screen from clicking the Journal tab 720. The display presented provides an area where the user 238 can enter information in an electronic journal. That is a place where the user 238 can enter text specifically associated with a particular date. The journal thus provides for the current date associated with the entry 784, and places for the user 238 to enter the subject 786 and the content 788 of the entry. The journal also allows the user 238 to exit the display saving the entry 790 or to clear an undesired entry 794. In addition the display gives the user buttons to modify, add or delete journal entries or change journal characteristics 792. Electronic journals are well known to the art and the journal tab can comprise any type of electric journal and still be within the scope of the invention

Fig. 123 depicts the resultant screen from clicking on the Messages tab 722. The display provides a message board 796 where messages can be posted by the user 238 to any other user 238. Fig. 124 depicts the resultant screen from clicking on the Family Community tab 724. This is very similar to Fig. 116 but the family community 798 differs from the sports community 704 because the family community shows the Homes of owners 502 that are related by blood, affinity, or other familial ties as is known in the art. In this particular embodiment the family community 798 is depicted in a rough representation of a family tree laying out a brief overview of the family history. Although such layout is covered under the scope of this invention, any other type of layout of familial relations is also included within the scope of this invention. The display further comprises buttons allowing the modification of the family community, and the creation or deletion of additional family communities 800.

Fig. 125 depicts the resultant screen from clicking on the Friends Community tab 728. Here the display 8002 does not contain a community listing but the tab could contain a community comprising the Homes of friends of the owner 502 laid out as a community as elsewhere discussed. The display 8002 also comprises buttons to modify, add, or delete friends communities 8004.

Fig. 126 depicts the resultant screen from clicking on the My Links tab 730. The display comprises a collection of useful network links 8008 such as Internet links or URL links allowing the user 238 to store favorite electronic locations as part of the system. Although the collection of useful network links 8008 are presented here as clickable buttons, they could also be presented in any form utilizing, text, graphics static, dynamic, and/or animated, audio, images, or any combination thereof including, but not limited to, interactive links or static lists.

Referring again to Fig. 101, a user 238, such as a visitor 402 or an owner 502 may select among the various options, by clicking a mouse on an appropriate icon or a similar mechanism. In an embodiment, the user 238 may be a visitor 402 to a private site or to a public site. If the site the visitor 402 wishes to visit is a private site, then the visitor 402 may be asked to enter a password, identifier, or similar indication of authorization to enter the site.

The visitor 402 may find a particular site or object by entering key words, by selecting from menus, or by navigating through a series of links. Thus, the visitor 402 may find a site for a particular owner 502 by entering the owner's name, or by selecting it from available names, in the case of public sites. Other objects, such as rooms, towns, communities, and the like, may be found in a similar fashion. Once the visitor 402 selects a particular site, the host system 200 may display a page to the visitor 402 for the particular site. In particular, the host system 200 may display objects associated with the site of a particular owner 502, or a site associated with a particular community or other object. In an embodiment, the display may depend on a characteristic of the visitor 402, such as a security clearance, password, or similar security mechanism. For example, if the visitor 402 is also the owner 502 of the site, then the visitor 402 may view all of the objects for the site; that is, the host system 200 will retrieve all objects for the site from the databases described elsewhere herein, build pages, such as dynamic HTML pages or HTML pages, with the objects retrieved, and display all of the objects, such as in a graphical interface. If the visitor 402 has a password, but is not the owner 502, then the visitor 402 may be permitted to display only some of the objects, in which case different objects are retrieved and displayed. If the visitor 402 does not have any password or security clearance, then a still smaller subset of objects may be retrieved and displayed. A wide variety of different security mechanisms can thus be used to determine what displays are shown. Such security mechanisms may include different keys, such as cryptographic keys, for users 238 having different characteristics; thus, certain items may be viewed only by family members, others only by individuals of a certain age, others only by those with a security clearance, and the like.

Referring to Fig. 115, a user 238 may select a particular type of view based on whether the user 238 wishes to see material that is temporary by selecting the every day icon 512, material that is permanent by selecting the permanent icon 522, or material that is limited to the owner only by selecting the owner only icon 532. The user 238 can also select various subject matter areas, to find sites associated with groups or subject matter. When the user 238 selects a particular site, either at the page of Fig. 115 or the page of Fig. 101, then the user 238 may be sent to the site of a particular owner 502.

Referring to Fig. 132, the site of a particular owner 502 is depicted. The site may thus include a graphical representation 804 of a home 808 of the owner 502. In an embodiment, the graphical representation may include a room of the home 808, such as a kitchen 810. The kitchen 810 may be depicted in, for example, a digital photograph, which may be stored and presented in .gif, .pdf, jpeg or .png formats, or other graphical formats. Thus, a visitor 402 may view a part of the home of the owner 502. The kitchen 810 or other room may include further objects, such as a desk 812 and a cabinet 814. These objects may be associated with icons or actions of a pointer of the visitor 402, so that when the visitor 402 clicks on them, further interaction occurs.

Referring to Fig. 132, when the visitor 402 clicks on the cabinet 814, a new page 818 may be displayed (see Fig. 133), which may contain, for example, family recipes or other digital content associated with storage in the kitchen. Referring again to Fig. 132, when the user 238 clicks on a doorway 820, the user 238 may be sent to a further room 822, such as a family or entertainment room. Referring to Fig. 135, the new room appears through the display of suitable objects from the databases and creation of HTML or dynamic HTML pages. Thus, by clicking successive entryways or doors, the visitor 402 may navigate throughout the home of the owner 502. The entertainment room 822 may include further objects, such as a table 824 and a viewing screen 828. The table 824 may include various other objects, such as albums 830. Referring to Fig. 136, one or more charts or tables 832 may appear on the user's display with the room 822, which may contain items that can be selected for viewing. By clicking on a item, the user 238 may initiate an action. Thus, for example, by clicking on one of the albums 830, the user 238 may view a display 834 such as that depicted in Fig. 137. The display 834 may include further objects, such as a closer view of the albums 830.

By clicking on one of the albums 830, the visitor 402 may view a display 838 such as that depicted in Fig. 138. Thus, the albums 830 may lead to further objects that would be stored in the albums 830, such as family photographs 840, as depicted in Figs. 138 and 139. The photographs 840 may also include narrative text 842, describing what is contained in them. The photographs may further include associated audio files, video files, and the like.

Referring again to Fig. 135, the visitor 402 may select other objects, such as by clicking on the screen 828. Clicking on the screen 828 may result in a display 844 such as that depicted in Fig. 141, which contains a table of audio and video files or objects that can be viewed by selecting them. For example, by clicking on a particular movie clip 848 in the display 844 of Fig. 141, the visitor 402 may be sent to the page 850, where the user system 236 may view an object 852 on the screen 828, as depicted in Fig. 142. The object 852 may be a still photograph, home video, film, audio clip, movie, or other digitally represented content. The object 852 may be created by the owner 502 or may be other content supplied by the host or a third party to the owner 502 for inclusion in the room. Referring again to Fig. 132, the desk 812 may include further objects. Clicking on the desk 812 may result in the display of a table 854 that lists objects that might be stored in a desk or similar object, such as diaries, letters, news clips, art, sketches and the like, as depicted in Fig. 146. By selecting an object in the table 854 of Fig. 146, the visitor 402 may, for example, view further content, such as a letter 860, which might contain content directed to children, grandchildren and more distant descendants, as depicted in Fig. 147. Other selections in the table 854 of Fig. 146 might result in display of a diary 862, as depicted in Fig. 148, or news clips 864, as depicted in Figs. 149, 150 and 151. The news clips 864 may contain personal data about family members, a narrative 868 provided by the owner 502, or content from other sources. The objects may be associated with audio and video content as well. The objects may also be time stamped, as disclosed elsewhere herein, to permit a visitor 402 to select content from a particular time period.

Referring again to Fig. 132, the desk 812 may also contain legal objects 870, which may appear in a display 872 as depicted in Fig. 152. The objects 870 might include a will, passport, financial statement, bank statement, trust, contract, deed, certificate, prescription, insurance policy, or any other document of legal significance. Thus, the visitor 402 may view, and the owner 502 may store, documents of legal significance. In an embodiment, a third party may be involved in the establishment of the legal document 870, with the host providing security to prevent changes by the owner 502 or any third party. Thus, the legal documents 870 may serve as proof of their existence and content, as coordinated and agreed by the owner 502 and the third party in advance. Thus, the site may serve as redundant or primary storage of all items of legal significance, including legal objects 870, as well as photographs and the like that document a state of affairs, such as the state of a home before a fire, flood, or other disaster. By involving a third party in the security, the host may provide both the owner 502 and the third party with assurance that there will not be changes made, once the owner 502 and the third party have acknowledged the authenticity of an object stored for legal purposes. Identification and definition of the protocols for assuring that an item having legal significance is handled appropriately may be accomplished by tags, document type definitions, such as those used in XML, SGML, or other mark-up language standards, or data structures included in the relational databases disclosed herein. Referring to Fig. 153, a legal object 870 may include a trust document 872, for example.

Referring to Fig. 160, in an embodiment, a room 874 may depict the owner 502. The owner 502 may, for example, sit at the desk 812, as depicted above, permitting access to various content from the desk 812. Alternatively, the site may, by an audio clip or video clip, invite the visitor 402 to click on the owner 502, which may then result in display of a video portrait 878, such as a movie or clip of the owner 502 providing a message, as indicated in schematic format in Fig. 162. The message may be customized according to a characteristic or profile of the visitor 402, as described elsewhere herein. For example, if the visitor 402 is identified as a grandchild, then the video portrait 878 may provide a clip of the owner 502 giving an appropriate message to the grandchild.

A wide range of objects may be stored and viewed according to the methods and systems disclosed herein. Examples include a virtual will, a personal inventory of property, an insurance policy, a bank book, a property deed, a stock certificate, a birth certificate, a passport, a depiction of a stamp or coin collection, a photograph of an antique or heirloom, a wedding photograph, a birth video, a personal memento, an immunization record, a tax record, receipts, financial records, diplomas, professional certifications, awards, appraisals, legal documents, agreements, contracts, letters, diaries, recipes, personal accounts, lists of favorite items, medical histories, medical records, prescriptions, photographs of pets, and many other items. The objects may be stored, manipulated and retrieved in any digital format now understood or hereinafter discovered, ranging from word processing files, HTML documents, .pdf, .gif, jpeg, mpeg, MP3, .png and files of other formats, objects, applets, programs, and the like. In embodiments, the objects may be stored in a virtual environment, such as the display of a home described above, or another environment, such as a bank safe or virtual safe deposit box. A wide variety of users 238 may wish to be owners 502 or visitors 402. For example, an owner 502 may wish to own the site to provide an ongoing personal legacy to future generations, to provide backup storage of important personal objects, to provide proof of the existence and content of particular objects, and to permit convenient access to certain objects from remote locations. Visitors 402 may come to the site to obtain proof of certain information, for entertainment, to obtain a perspective on a particular time or environment, and for many other purposes.

Referring now to Fig. 2, shown is a more detailed description of an embodiment of a configuration 180 of Fig. 1 within which the invention may be used. The connection 210 in this more detailed example is the Internet, although other types of network and non-network connections may be used to connect a user system 236 to the host system 200 of the configuration 180.

The host system 200 of Fig. 2 may be a website which may be visited by a user 238 through the Internet, and accessed using the user system 236 and a uniform resource locator (URL) address. Within the website, individuals may access their own private sites or data repositories. Included in the host system 200 of Fig. 2 are two firewalls 220a and 220b which provide a secure connection for a user session from the user system 236 to the host system 200 through the Internet 210. Each of the firewalls 220a and 220b are connected 222 to one or more servers 226a-226c. The internal network 240 is connected to the servers through another level of firewalls 230a and 230b. The internal net 240 includes one or more back end processors 242a-242b to process incoming requests from the user systems 236 as forwarded by the servers 226a-226c. Generally, in this embodiment, the back end processors 242a- 242b access the data in the storage area 250. The back end processors may transfer data to and from the storage area 250 using one of a variety of connections, such as the fibre channel connection as shown. Each of the firewalls, servers, and back end processors may be, for example, a commercially available Intel-based processor also as shown.

The storage area 250 may be one of a variety of commercially available storage areas employing a variety of techniques, such as redundant hardware included in RAID storage. Data storage techniques may be used also to ensure fault-tolerant and redundancy in data storage, such as mirroring and/or striping in accordance with the particular data device and other details of each particular embodiment as known to those skilled in the art.

Generally, the host system 200 in the embodiment of Fig. 2 may be viewed as a web site or web sites. It is very similar to a traditional web site in many ways, high performance, high availability, secure etc. but has the added requirements that the data be stored and available for an extended period of time, as set forth in an agreement between the owner 502 and the host 202.

The users 238 of the host system 200 may range from computer "neophytes" to the very sophisticated. An embodiment of the host system 200 may be easy to use for the new comer, and also provide services typical of a web site for the more sophisticated users 238. These may include, but are not limited to, the webpage data itself, e-mail and authoring tools and additionally chat, news services, strong authentication and conferencing services provided by the ISP of the host system 200.

As previously described, the components of the host system 200 include a firewall 220a-220b between the Internet 210 and the production site or host system 200. The firewall 220a-220b allows HTTP and SMTP data traffic and requests from anywhere and allows SMTP traffic back to the Internet 210. The server farm 226a-226c can be a group of Intel servers running IIS. Additional servers may be added as additional traffic requires. The back end servers 242a-242b may be accessed outside the firewall from an authenticated and well know list of servers. The generic term back-end server is used to distinguish most non-HTTP services from the servers. The goal is to partition the HTTP traffic to these servers for scalability reasons. The back-end servers perform a variety of functions including authoring web pages, replication and synchronization as well as monitoring and reporting. These are described below in more detail. As many of these are discrete functions one can move components from one system to another to achieve the best performance. It should be noted that if there is an internal network used for more than operational monitoring the entire sub-net below may be blocked with another firewall 230a-230b between it and the Intranet 240.

In the foregoing host system 200, the firewalls 230a and 230b serve to protect access to the data in the storage area 250. When a user 238 logs into the host system 200 as an owner 502 or visitor 402, an authentication process takes place as a security measure. Generally, in this embodiment, the user 238 may log into the host system 200 as an owner 502 requiring a user identifier and password. A user 238 may also access the host system 200 as a visitor 402 with or without a password. If no password is used with a visitor status, only publicly available information and data may be accessible. If a password is entered with a visitor status, additional information as specified by the owner 502 may be available for access. Generally, other embodiments may have different levels of security and passwords in accordance with the requirements of each implementation and application.

In the host system 200 of Fig. 2, a user 238 may be accessing the Internet 210 using a computer processor with an attached display device. Additionally, software executing on the user's system 236 may include a commercially available web browser, such as Netscape™ or Internet Explorer™, that communicates with the host system 200 in accordance with standard network protocols.

What will now be described is the general process of what happens within the host system 200 when a user 238 logs into the host system 200. A URL is specified on the user's browser identifying the website associated with host system 200. The URL is sent to host system 200 through the Internet 210. In return, the user system 236 is provided with an HTML file as interpreted and displayed by the user's browser. The user 238 subsequently enters user information and logs on as a visitor 402 or owner 502. This information is transmitted from the user system 236 to the host system 200. The request is routed through one of the firewalls 220a or 220b and to one of the servers 226a-226c. It should be noted that in this embodiment, the request is routed to one of the servers 226a- 226c using a round- robin or other hardware routing technique. From the server, a request for authentication is sent through one of the second level of firewalls 230a or 230b to one of the backend processors 242a-242b. User information, such as a user identifier and password, may be authenticated in this embodiment against an X.500 directory including user authentication information provided in the incoming request as routed to one of the backend processors 242a-242b.

Once a request is forwarded to one of the backend processors, software executed by the backend processor 242a-242b receiving the request determines, using configuration information, the "best" back end processor 242a-242b for processing the request. In this embodiment, the "best" processor or one of the group of processors is determined in accordance with geographic area with redirection to another server as needed in accordance with configuration information. In other words, an http redirection to another server is performed if it is determined that the cunently designated processor is in an improperly designated geographic area with regard to configuration information. This geographic information may be derived from the IP address of the server. Thus, a request is routed in this embodiment in accordance with data throughput based on the destination IP address of a server. Additionally, firewalls 220 and 220b may perform a load balancing amongst the different associated backend processors, such as 242a-242b. Authorization is a recurring theme in any web site. Generally, once a user 238 is authenticated, authorization rules may be applied when the user 238 wants to access or modify data as included in the storage area 250.

Included, as previously described, is support for username and password authentication or sometimes called clear-text authentication. Additionally, other user authentication techniques, such as use of digital certificates may also be employed in other embodiments. Additionally, a variety of encryption techniques, such as public/private key encryption, may be employed for data stored in the storage area 150 in accordance with the level of security of the data required for each particular application.

In this embodiment which uses HTTP, once a user 238 is authenticated, a client side cookie can be created allowing the user 238 to access data without having to re authenticate at each page.

Additionally most firewalls and all network access servers support RADIUS, a simple protocol used to authenticate and to some extent authorize users 236 on a network. This may also be employed in an embodiment if a higher level of security is desired. An owner 502 may want to be able to add other users 238 having different levels of access to the data whose access is controlled by the owner 502. For example, the owner 502 may create a main page that anyone ("visitor") may see. Additionally, the owner 502 may create private areas limiting access to only certain other users 238 having different levels of access. For example, let anyone in one group read one item, but only let other users 238 in a predetermined group have write or modify access to the item. To accomplish this, a variety of techniques may be employed. In one embodiment, after a user 238 is authenticated, the server is presented with a "view" of the data or items. The processor determines, in accordance with a user's authentication, a view of the data as included in the storage area 250 for a particular user site. An HTML page may be dynamically generated presenting this "view" of the data. For example, if a user 238 is a visitor 402, the generated HTML page may be different from that HTML page displayed for the owner 502. For example, the owner 502 may have displayed a list of various data files for modification. If a user 238 is a visitor 402, perhaps all that is presented is an image of the owner 502 with personal information. This "view" of the data is set forth in the dynamically generated HTML file. Database queries, for example, may be performed to determine the files to be displayed or links to be included in the HTML file. The output of these queries may be used as input to a Java script that outputs HTML commands as included in a template. These dynamically generated commands are included in a predetermined template or file format to form the dynamically generated HTML page.

For example, referring to Fig. 3, shown is an example of a template 300. The template 300 includes an area 302 and an area 304. The area 302 is used to display an image and the area 304 is used to display contents of a text file. These filenames may be determined in accordance with a database query or lookup, such as in accordance with SQL or other database queries as used in each embodiment. Using the filename and knowing the format of the template 300, a Javascript may generate an HTML command to display the image file in the area 302 and similarly display text from a text file in the area 304. Similar techniques using templates, database queries, and using scripts may be used to generate other HTML commands as may be included in a dynamically generated HTML file.

Other techniques, such as use of associated access control lists (ACLs), and user certificates, may also be used as techniques for controlling access to data objects.

It should be noted that in this embodiment, a secure connection is employed, for example using SSL, to provide a secure way of getting the private data from the user's browser to the host system 200. It should also be noted that the templates as used to display information to a visitor 402, for example, may be specified by the owner 502 of a site. However, an embodiment may not require a user 238 to have knowledge about HTML. In one such embodiment, a set of layout wizards may be provided that walk the user 238 through adding text, pictures and audio and movies, for example. Additionally, more sophisticated users 238 may want to upload their own pages, such as one made "by hand" or using a webpage authoring tool, like Microsoft's FrontPage. This may still done via a wizard, however the layout portion of the wizard, which presumably is the most cumbersome, will not be used. An embodiment of the host system 200 may provide a technique to allow only users 238 or those authorized by a user 238 to enter or modify data. Referring now to Fig. 4, shown is an example of an embodiment of how a user system 236 may specify control allowing access to data included in the storage area 250. Shown in Fig. 4 is a server 226a that includes client software 264. In this embodiment, this client software is in accordance with the lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP). The client software, using the LDAP interface 260, allows a user system 236 to specify data and associated access controls using ACL information. This data and associated ACL is recorded in a control record used to limit access to the associated data that may be stored in the storage area 250.

It should be noted that an embodiment may replicate the access and control information as described herein as a precautionary measure in the event of system failures. The data storage area 250, as included for example in Fig. 2, may be implemented using various data storage techniques. In particular, the data to be displayed or presented to a user 238 may stored in the storage area 250 in a relational database. In other words, an embodiment of the storage area 250 includes a relational database organization of the data that may be accessed to or presented to a user 238. In one embodiment, the relational database provides a "view" of user data in accordance with user accesses and data controls. As previously described, a user 238 is authenticated against an X.500 directory including user authentication information. Subsequently, the relational database is queried for retrieving the appropriate data view in accordance with the user permissions with respect to user data. The relational database may be used to control the data view presented to a user 238. Also, ACLs may be used as an additional or replacement access control mechanism.

It should be noted that in the foregoing description, access to any data object is beneath two levels of firewalls and may use a relational database to determine what objects are associated with an owner 502 and visitor 402 account. Other embodiments may also employ variations of the foregoing embodiment in accordance with principles of the invention.

A variety of techniques may be used to get data into the host system 200 of Fig. 2. Techniques such as scanning, use of optical character recognition (OCR), and voice recognition techniques may be used to place objects for storage into a predetermined form for inclusion into the host system 200. For example, in one embodiment a digital data format may be used in which the data may also be compressed using data compression techniques known in the art in accordance with the type of data being compressed (i.e, video, image, audio, etc.) and the amount of data in the system. Generally, the larger the amounts of data to be stored in the entire system, the greater the storage reduction using data compression techniques.

It should be noted that the inputting of data into the host system 200 may be incorporated into service pricing as provided by the ISP. A user 238 may be charged more money if the user 238 does not want to perform converting the information for storage into the data formats used by the ISP in the host system 200. For an additional fee, the ISP may provide these data conversion and storage services to a user 238. For example, a first user 238 may provide a box of pictures, letters and the like, ship the box to the ISP for conversion to an on-line digital storage format in accordance with the type of data being stored. Alternatively, a second user 238 may choose to provide the ISP with digitized image files in accordance with predefined formats used in the ISP's system. The second user 238 may provide these data files, for example, an image file, by scanning in pictures with a scanner that the second user 238 has at home connected to the user system 236 computer. The first user 238 may purchase the additional service which the second user 238 chooses to perform without such additional service. The varying levels of service may be accordingly priced in a pricing plan with other services provided to a particular user 238. The foregoing pricing provides a flexible pricing plan allowing for tailored user pricing plans in accordance with varying levels of service offered.

Data compression techniques may be used as performed by the ISP. In a preferred embodiment, this may appear invisible or seamless to the user 238. In other words, the user 238 does not have to be concerned with when and if the ISP performs a data compression technique for data storage, and corresponding decompression techniques for data retrieval.

Outside data integration may be provided by the ISP in an embodiment incorporating principles of the invention. Outside data integration is a service provided by the ISP by which a user 238 or purchaser of ISP services has access to non-local data sources. These data sources are non-local with respect to data storage on the ISP system or network. For example, an ISP may provide for integration of data from other websites. A pointer to an external site for a newspaper article or other external data file may be integrated into the ISP services provided to a user 238. Varying degrees of access may be accordingly reflected in service fees charged to a user 238. This charge may be based upon several policies, such as a unit charge for a specified time period with unlimited access to certain outside data sources. Another type of service is transaction based with fees associated with access to different data services, including third party data services that the ISP may pay for and pass on to the user 238 in terms of services fees. As another service in the host system 200, an ISP may provide for transitions between storage devices and related data formats. Thus, the user 238 would not have to be concerned with new data formats or new storage devices. The transitions can be part of the service provided by the ISP of the host system 200. Subsequently, the ISP may choose to partner with yet a third party provider for the data storage service, such as secure data storage. Alternatively, the ISP may choose to provide for the persistent, secure data storage itself. In yet another embodiment, the ISP may choose some combination of providing the data storage as well as partnering with a third party storage provider. For example, data that is determined by the ISP to be of a certain "age" may be archived and stored in a third party's storage facility. Other data may be stored "locally" with respect to the ISP's physical site or incorporated as part of the ISP's network with backup at the third party site. This may be in accordance with a policy of the ISP that "newer" data may be more frequently retrieved and thus it may be more efficient to store the data locally as well as "off-site" with respect to the ISP's system and network. It should be noted that other policies for storage may be implemented by an ISP in accordance with user recorded data accesses, such as least recently used (LRU) and others known to those skilled in the art. Generally, these policies may be in accordance with known data caching techniques providing for more efficient data storage, retrieval, and usage of other ISP computing resources.

It should be noted that in one embodiment the data storage format includes digital storage formats, for example, digitized images of pictures. These data formats are accordingly stored on the various storage devices of the ISP's system. In the event that different data devices, storage formats and compression techniques are used by the ISP, the user 238 is provided with the same service and this change or transitioning is invisible and seamless to the user 238 of the system. This is part of the service that may be provided by the ISP to the user 238 or purchaser of service. The data may include, for example, image files in accordance with a predetermined format, such as JPEG, GIF or PNG (Portable Network Graphics Format). Data may also include dynamic HTML files, and annotated .GIF files.

An embodiment of the host system 200 may also employ a variety of data access and filtering techniques. These may be provided automatically by an ISP, and others may be offered as a service for a fee to a user 238. For example, a software program may perform data filtering functions to remove, for example, obscene language or words and the like from data stored in the storage area 250. This may be performed automatically by the ISP or may be specified, for example, by an owner 502. The ISP may also provide services limiting access to certain files or areas, such as external data sources. This may be a control mechanism by which an owner of a site, for example, may control access to certain financial information or other material to a user 238 of the site, such as a child. This may be implemented in hardware and/or software in accordance with each embodiment and implementation.

These and other techniques described herein and known to those skilled in the art may be used to provide varying degrees of filtering and access control. As yet another service, users 238 may be given email accounts. The host system 200 may be configured to limit the amount of disk space they are allowed access to. Additional charges may be incuned as storage increases.

In the foregoing description, the database of user 238 data as may be included in the storage area 150 may be a relational database, for example, using one or more database servers, such as Oracle and SQL servers. It should be noted that this database may be, for example, an object oriented database. This is one type that may be employed in an embodiment in accordance with principles of the invention. It should be noted that data that may be stored in the host system 200 may include a variety of data items or objects, such as a variety of multimedia data objects including audio, image, text, and other data types.

It should be noted that the host system 200 of Fig. 2 may include the two firewalls, such as 220a and 220b for redundancy. One or both may be used in accordance with a particular implementation of the principles of the invention. Similarly, multiple servers may also be included for redundancy.

The software executing on the processors included in the host system 200 may be one a variety of commercially available operating systems, such as Windows NT by Microsoft®.

It should be noted that an embodiment may also include software for administrative functions (not shown in Fig. 2), such as monitoring system activities, data collection, reporting functions, and the like.

In an embodiment, input to the host system 200 and access to the host system 200 may be associated with a user system 236 that may be located, for example, in a room in the home of the owner 502, such as the kitchen. The user system 236 may include a display with a graphical user interface, so that a user 238 may access the host system 200 over the Internet or other computer network from the kitchen. The user system 236 may preferably include a display that is of the quality and character of a television display, but that also allows access to the Internet. Thus the device may be a WebTV or similar device. In an embodiment, the owner 502 may use the host system 200 to place messages on a message board or similar object stored at the site, to send and receive email, and to execute other functions desired by the family. In an embodiment, the user system 236 may further include a capture device, such as a microphone or a digital camera, so that the device may be used to author content for the site, based on what is occurring in the home, as well as to display content already stored at the site. Thus, in an embodiment, the system includes a user system 236 in the home that provides convenience both in terms of establishing material on the site and in terms of viewing material already established at the site.

Also provided herein may be pricing methods and systems for determining the price that is suitable for data storage for a particular user system 236. Thus, for example, a host might offer a given amount of data storage for a particular price, or the host might offer to store a particular object type for a given price, or the host might engage in a series of diminishing price offerings, to clear the market of high-demand users 236 before offering lower price services to other users 236. In an embodiment, the host may auction virtual locations to multiple owners 502, awarding preferred locations to the winning bidders. In another embodiment, an owner 502 might offer a bid for a room or other object in a reverse-auction format. In another embodiment, a host may offer an owner 502 more rooms at a volume discount, or the right to acquire more rooms in the future at a fixed price. A variety of other pricing models may be envisioned for the purchase, licensing, leasing or sale of relatively permanent storage of digitally represented objects, such as virtual homes, towns, rooms, communities and the like. Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to the provision of persistent access or relative permanence to objects accessed through a computer network, such as the Internet. One aspect of such persistent access or relative permanence is long term data storage, using, for example, the hardware and databases disclosed elsewhere herein. Another aspect of such persistent access or relative permanence relates to processes that assure the user 238 of a long-term commitment on the part of the host 202. Thus, provided herein are methods and processes for assuring the user system 236 of a relatively permanent character of service.

Such a long-term commitment might consist of a term extending at least until (a) at least one or more members of the next generation (or a subsequent generation) following the user 238 is born or reaches a certain age, (b) the death of the user 238 or for a period of time after the user's 238 death, or (c) indefinitely so long as certain criteria are met, such as continued payment of any required fees. Various other extended terms are possible, and are within the scope of the invention.

One method of providing relative permanence is a contract or legal agreement on the part of the host to provide data storage for a predetermined amount of time, or for an indefinite, potentially permanent amount of time. In an embodiment, the agreement may be associated with a related financial instrument through which the services may be funded. For example, in an embodiment, a rider or provision of an insurance policy may provide for funding, on a periodic basis, of fees necessary to fund the host's activities in maintaining the site. Such a rider may provide for a benefit, payable, for example, upon death, disability, an individual's reaching a certain age, an accident, such as a flood, fire, earthquake, or the like, or any other definable contingency event. Thus, the permanence is assured in part by association with other products that assure performance upon contingent events, such as life insurance, disability insurance and homeowner's insurance. The permanence of funding is assured by the relative permanence of certain companies, such as insurance companies.

In another embodiment, a trust may be established for paying periodic maintenance fees on behalf of the owner of the site. In another embodiment, a financial institution, such as a bank, trust, or other entity, may establish an annuity for payment of the periodic fees necessary to maintain a site. In yet another embodiment, a family trust can be created which provides for funding to maintain a site.

As discussed above, such agreements may be executed over a network. In one embodiment, the agreement would be executed using an agreement processor. An agreement processor might use a variety of techniques, including "click-through" agreements, digital signatures, or telephone prompts. Such an agreement could be part of an on-line registration process. Alternatively, agreements can be entered into via facsimile, in-person, email, telephone or any other way of entering into agreements.

A variety of environments may be established in which owners 502 may establish and maintain permanent objects that are accessible through a computer network, such as the Internet. One such environment is a virtual home, such as that disclosed above. A variety of other environments may also be provided. For example, within the virtual home, a variety of different sub-environments may be established, such as virtual rooms within the home. Thus, a home may have a kitchen, one or more bedrooms, a family room, a dining room, a living room, a bathroom, an entertainment room, and the like. In an embodiment, the home or one or more rooms may consist of a graphical depiction of the owner's actual home. The graphical depiction may take a variety of forms, such as digital photographs, digital video, a schematic, a top, side, or bottom view, an object- view, or a series of menus or folders with topic headings representative of the particular home or room. In embodiment, digital pictures, audio and video may be provided to permit a user system 236 to navigate a graphical depiction of the home, permitting a virtual tour. In another embodiment, objects are stored in folders that represent categories of items found in the user's home.

Within each virtual home or room, a variety of other objects may be established and maintained for access by the owner 502 and visitors 402. For example, within a particular virtual room, items associated with that room may be stored. For example, in the virtual kitchen, recipes, lists of favorite foods, video of kitchen activities, and the like may be stored. Access to these objects may be obtained, in an embodiment, by clicking on a particular folder or object. For example, a user system 236 might find a family recipe by clicking on a kitchen cabinet, or a list of favorite foods by clicking on a refrigerator. Alternatively, folders may be established with titles indicative of their content. Similar objects may be associated with other rooms. Thus, a virtual office might have a video portrait of an individual, a diary, important papers, such as wills, legal instruments, bank books, passports, and the like; a virtual family room might have an entertainment center permitting access to favorite films, television programs, music and the like, a photo album of family photos, an archive of family videos and films, and the like; a virtual dining room might have videos from parties, dinners and family gatherings; a virtual bedroom might have a closet with pictures or videos of clothing and the like. Thus, any object capable of being digitally represented may be stored as an object in a virtual room or home and may be associated, through a file or folder system or a graphical representation, with a particular category or related item of interest. In an embodiment, all of the stored digital material may be stored in a database with key terms, or the like, so that a search may be conducted not only through a file structure or graphical tour, but also through conventional software searching techniques. In addition to virtual homes and rooms, other virtual objects may be created. For example, a virtual neighborhood may be established wherein groups of homes may be placed together. Similarly, virtual towns, apartment buildings, condominiums, and other communities may be established be creating virtual real estate locations with proximity to other locations. In embodiments in which homes are presented in three-dimensional graphics, exiting a home may place the user system 236 in a virtual neighborhood or street, with other homes located in proximity according to navigation with a mouse or similar device, similar to that used in three dimensional computer games, such as fantasy role playing games. Virtual communities may be established with a variety of characteristics in addition to their constituent homes. For example, such communities may have other objects, such as places of business, civic organizations, government buildings, and the like. For example, a virtual library might contain digital representations of books contained in the town's library. A virtual cinema might play films. A virtual town hall might contain digital representations of property records, marriage records, driver's licenses and other records. Thus, virtual communities may be established for convenient, logical storage of and access to items of content found in analogous locations in the physical world.

A virtual vault or safe deposit box may be created in which a user stores valuable contents, such as financial records, personal records, wills, trust documents, and similar important documents.

The objects stored by the present methods and systems may also be provided with a time component. That is, each object may be stored with associated data, such as an identifying code, a date of entry into the system, and a date of creation in the physical world. For example, a photograph may be dated and the date may be stored with the photograph in the databases described elsewhere herein, so that the photograph's location not only in virtual space, but also in time, can be established. The addition of a time component to the objects stored herein permits a variety of additional methods and systems. For example, a given owner 502 may, by entering objects with different time components, establish a series of different homes, rooms, communities, or other objects, depending on a time selected by a visitor 402. Thus, a future user 238 might choose to see an owner's home in 1965, in which case photographs dated from that year would be used to create a digital representation of the home. The user 238 could then change the date to 1975, in which case different objects would be used to build the representation of the home from that year. Thus, a time line can be established through which a user 238 may view changes in an object or environment, such as a room, home, or community over time. In embodiments, historical data may be time stamped and stored in archives, so that users 238 interested in studying historical periods may enter a virtual environment and access time-appropriate data. For example, a user 238 might navigate to a virtual cinema in a town in 1939, in which case Gone With the Wind might be showing at the cinema. The use of time stamps may permit not only access recreations of past environments with similar time stamps, but also the creation of simulations of future environments. For example, navigating to a virtual cinema might permit a user system 236 to view a trailer for a motion picture that will be showing in a few weeks. Other "previews" of the future can be built into the system with appropriate time stamps. The establishment of time stamps for data permits the owner of an object to store data over a life time, creating, on an ongoing basis, a life story for future generations. In embodiments, the life story or other object established by the user 238 may include other elements in addition to the personal effects of the user system 236. For example, the user 238 may obtain digital content from other sources, such as electronic mail, files, compact discs, music videos, links to sites on the worldwide web, and other sources of digital content. The content may be included in or associated with the objects supplied by the user 238. In other embodiments, the user 238 may alter objects according to preferences. For example, the owner might digitally re-master music, edit or cut video, or add or subtract elements from owner's objects. For example, the owner might, rather than depicting the user's actual home, depict a "dream home." Alternatively, the user 238 might include aspirations, or fictional events, in order to enhance the owner's legacy or status, or to add entertainment value. For example, the owner might provide different beautiful views outside the owner's house, or the like.

In an embodiment, a variety of different virtual communities may be established. Possible communities might include communities of homes of different related family members. Alternatively, communities of people of common characteristics might be grouped into the same communities, such as movie or television stars, sports figures, politicians, musicians, artists, entrepreneurs, or the like. Similarly, communities may be established whereby figures of historical interest may be grouped so that visitors 402 may visit communities to explore a particular area of interest. For example, a physics community might contain objects associated with Newton, Einstein, Feynman,

Oppenheimer and the like; a film community might contain Bogart, Bacall, Hitchcock, Welles and the like; an art community might contain Picasso, Degas, Kandinsky and the like, and so on. Other communities might include communities of people who have attended the same college or high school, people in the same professional organization, members of the same religious or civic institution, or communities of people with common interest. The commonality of interest or attribute may thus be along any of a wide variety of characteristics.

In an embodiment, communities may be established in which owners 502 may purchase the right to associate their objects with particular environments or communities. Thus, virtual real estate may be established with particular locations being desired. For example, a community in which a virtual Graceland is located might require an owner 502 to pay a larger fee in order to be across the street or next door. Thus, virtual "deeds" may be established representing an ongoing right to be located, in virtual space, in proximity to other interesting or valuable locations. Virtual objects or properties herein may also include advertising or marketing space. Thus, virtual billboards may be located in certain environments that provide relatively permanent advertising space for owners of the space. The billboards may provide fixed advertisements, may cycle between content of different owners according to a predetermined cycle, or may cycle between different content of a particular owner 502. Thus, a relatively permanent advertising location may be provided in a virtual environment. Virtual retail environments may also be provided, such as including an online store, such as a book store, in a community. For example, a vintage or antiquities book store might located a virtual retail storefront in a vintage community, such as 1940s Brooklyn, where visitors 402 would find time-appropriate material. The objects disclosed herein also permit flexibility in establishing communities.

That is, because objects may be stored in databases and associated with a variety of key words, the objects may be retrieved and built according to different keywords according to the plans of the host. Thus, for example, the object for a particular user's home might be located in a community associated with that user's family, with the family of that user's wife, with a community of other individuals who work with the user 238, with a community of alumni of the user's college, and with other communities of other users 238 having key word attributes that match those associated with the object of the user 238. The use of key words permits the host to retrieve objects having shared attributes from the databases disclosed elsewhere herein and to build a wide variety of different virtual communities depending on the interest of the owner 502 or the visitor 402. Thus, communities may be built on the fly in real time from permanent, secure data objects having predetermined key words or parameters. By agreement with users 238, some such communities might be restricted or prohibited, in order to increase the status or cachet of such communities. Thus, for example, a user 238 might have to have certain qualifying characteristics in order to located in a movie star community, such as having won an Academy award.

The services provided herein may include the creation of time capsules. For instance, a town such as Hingham, MA or a university such as M.I.T. could create a site that cannot be changed once it is completed. Cunently time capsules containing media relying on particular technology to access it may become impossible or difficult to access in the future when one would want to access a time capsule. This is because the technology required by the media in the time capsule may be so outdated that it cannot be accessed by equipment then available, and the old equipment may no longer be available. For example, it would be difficult today to open a file that was designed to be opened by a Commodore 64. The present invention overcomes this problem. The services provided herein may include scripting services that support the owner's ability to tell a story. For example, information may be supplied by the owner 502 that assists the host 202 in identifying and supplying additional material that may be relevant to the owner's life. For example, the owner 502 may supply birthdays, anniversaries, graduation dates, and other key dates, and the host 202 may supply content relevant to those dates. For example, the host 202 might supply news clippings, video, movies, music, and other content from a relevant date, so that the owner's life story, such as told by the owner 502 in a video portrait, may also be associated with host 202 provided content of historical relevance, which helps establish a context for the owner's 202 story. Such content may include a set of scripts or stories from which the user 238 may select, historical, musical, or artistic content, or other content of a wide variety of structures and content.

In embodiments, an owner 502 may establish interactive content. In one such embodiment, a user's voice may be recorded speaking a variety of words in different tones. The user's words and tones can then be used to synthesize content, based on other input. For example, a user's words and actions may be scripted, such as using artificial intelligence algorithms, to simulate a response to a particular question or action, such as by a visitor 402. In one such embodiment, an owner 502 may answer a set of frequently asked questions selected by the host 200 or the owner 502, so that a video or audio depiction of the owner 502 may, in response to a question posed by a visitor 402 (whether by voice recognition, keyboard entry, selection from a menu, or the like), present the answer. In embodiments, the owner 502 may provide different content based on a profile of the visitor 402. For example, the owner 502 may record different audio or video content (or answers to frequently asked questions) based on the age of the visitor 402 as determined at the time of the video. For example, a question might be answered, or a story told, differently, based on the age of the visitor 402. A three-year-old might get a kind, simple version of a story, while a teenager might get more advice in a more direct tone. Thus, by recording and scripting different scenarios, the owner 502 may provide substantial interactivity for visitors 402, including future generations seeking content at the site.

In embodiments, content may be obtained through a variety of different services of the host 200. For example, the host 200 may provide one or more services such as visiting the owner's home, collecting materials to be digitized, assisting the owner 502 in recording video, audio or other content, assisting the owner 502 in arranging or cataloging content, assisting the owner 502 in selecting important documents for protecting, assisting the owner 502 in preparing a navigation through a digital environment, assisting the owner 502 in selecting communities of interest, assisting the owner 502 in digitizing content, and the like. Such services might be provided online, by telephone, by electronic or regular mail, or in person. In an embodiment, such services are provided in connection with other services, such as insurance agency services, financial services, or other advice. While the invention has been disclosed in connection with the prefened embodiments shown and described in detail, various modifications and improvements thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the present invention is encompassed by the following claims.

Claims

1. A system for providing persistent access to digital content, comprising:

(a) a host system that is connected to a network, wherein said host system includes a data storage device;

(b) a first connection between the host system and the network and a second connection between the network and at least one user system; and

(c) an agreement process providing for a commitment of a host to provide persistent storage and access to user data that is resident on the data storage device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said commitment extends at least until one or more members of a following generation of the user is born or reaches a certain age.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the following generation is the generation immediately following that of the user.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said commitment extends at least until the death of the user.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said commitment extends until a specified period of time after the user's death.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the specified period of time is fifty years or more.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said commitment extends for so long as certain criteria are met.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein a criterion is the payment of fees.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein said commitment extends for fifty years or more.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the user data is sent from the user system to the host system over the network and stored in the data storage device.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the user data consists of information relating to the family of the user.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the user data consists of financial information of the user.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the user data consists of virtual safe deposit box data.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the user data consists of financial data and personal data of the user.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the user data consists of a digital legacy of the user.

16. A method of doing business, comprising: obtaining objects from a user that are capable of digital representation; storing the objects in digital form; and committing to provide persistent storage and access to the objects.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising permitting changes to the objects under user authority during the lifetime of the user and preventing changes to at least some of said objects after the lifetime of the user.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising establishing a graphical display associated with a characteristic of the object, wherein the graphical display may be accessed through a network, wherein the graphical display includes navigation links that depict the objects as an environment of the user.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the environment is selected from the group of a home, a room of a home, a neighborhood, and a town.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the environment is a community, wherein the community consists of having at least one shared characteristic.

21. The method of claim 16, further comprising storing a time indicator for one or more objects and enabling objects to be selected based upon the time indicators.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the objects are selected based upon whether the time indicators fall within a specified period of time.

23. The method of claim 16, wherein the environment is a virtual safe deposit box.

24. A system for providing persistent access to digital content, comprising: a computer network; a server connected to the network; a processor for processing data of a client; a mass data storage facility for storing the data of the client; and an agreement processor of a host for providing a commitment of the host to provide permanent access to the data of the client over the computer network.

25. A method of doing business, comprising: obtaining objects from a client that are capable of digital representation; storing the objects in digital form; and committing to store the objects for a period longer than the lifetime of the client.

26. A method of doing business, comprising: obtaining objects from a client that are capable of digital representation; storing the objects in digital form; permitting the client to dynamically change the objects during the lifetime of the client; and preventing changes to the objects after the end of the lifetime of the client.

27. A method of doing business, comprising: obtaining objects from a client that are capable of digital representation; storing the objects in digital form; and establishing a graphical display associated with a characteristic of the object, wherein the graphical display may be accessed through a site connected to the Internet, wherein the graphical display includes navigation links that depict the objects as an environment of the client.

28. A method of claim 27, wherein the environment is a home.

29. A method of claim 27, wherein the environment is a room of a home.

30. A method of claim 27, wherein the environment is a neighborhood.

31. A method of claim 27, wherein the environment is a town.

32. A method of claim 27, wherein the environment is a community, wherein the community consists of clients having at least one shared characteristic.

33. A method of claim 27, wherein the environment is a virtual safe deposit box.

34. A method of doing business, comprising: obtaining objects from a client that are capable of digital representation; storing the objects in digital form; committing to store the objects for a period longer than the lifetime of the user; and establishing a graphical display associated with a characteristic of the object, wherein the graphical display may be accessed through a site connected to the Internet.

35. A method of doing business, comprising: obtaining objects from a client that are capable of digital representation; storing the objects in digital form; and committing to store the objects for a period longer than the lifetime of the client, wherein committing to store the objects includes committing to maintain the objects in a form accessible through a computer network..

36. A method of doing business, comprising: obtaining objects from a client that are capable of digital representation; storing the objects in digital form; storing a time indicator for at least a plurality of the objects; committing to store the objects for a period of time; providing a graphical representation associated with the objects; and enabling a viewer to view objects having a time indicator for a selected period of time.

37. A virtual safe deposit box, comprising: a network site having host, the site containing a representation of a safe deposit box; a data storage device associated with the network site for storing user data; a mechanism for entry of user data into the safe deposit box, whereby said data is stored in the data storage device; and a process for assuring the persistence of the data for at least a period of time promised to the user by the host.