WO2001050369A2

WO2001050369A2 - Method for providing a free connection for an internet appliance

Info

Publication number: WO2001050369A2
Application number: PCT/US2000/016429
Authority: WO
Inventors: Harry E. Emerson, Iii.; William A. Grywalski
Original assignee: Geode Electronics Llc
Priority date: 2000-01-05
Filing date: 2000-06-14
Publication date: 2001-07-12
Also published as: AU5613400A

Description

METHOD FOR PROVIDING A FREE CONNECTION FOR AN INTERNET APPLIANCE

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention:

The present invention relates to a method for transmitting advertisements to a user of an Internet Radio System; and more specifically, to a method for providing a free Internet connection to a user of an Internet Radio System in which the cost of the connection from an Internet Service Provider is subsidized by advertising.

2. Description of the Prior Art

The Internet is a system of linked computers that provides for global information exchange. Computer users are connected to the Internet by means of an Internet Service Provider ("ISP"). Generally, these ISP's require that the user prov ide some type of monetary consideration for Internet connection. Typically, a user subscribes to an ISP account in which the user pays a fee for the ability to access the Internet. ISPs provide three principle types of resources to consumers in exchange for the monthly fee: (i) dial in ports, each consisting of a phone line and a modem, one pair of which is consumed by each user for the duration of their connection; (ii) computer systems for processing e-mail and hosting user Web pages; and, (iii) bandwidth for data transmitted to the user from other locations on the Internet as the users view pages on Web sites. The computer systems resource requirement is relatively independent of subscriber usage, whereas the ISP costs for both dial in ports and bandwidth are usage dependent.

There are several advertising supported arrangements contemporaneous with the date of this application wherein computer users are given free Internet access through an ISP. These advertising arrangements, in general, present visual advertising material ("banner ads") to the computer users in exchange for the free service. In these arrangements, the entity managing the free service is able to control the presentation of advertising such that the amount or duration of advertising that the user is exposed to is proportionate to the amount of time spent on line. Thus, the ISP can recoup the cost of provisioning the service regardless of the amount of time the user stays connected.

There is an opportunity for non-PC entertainment devices to access entertainment content made available on the Internet. Such a non-PC entertainment device is an Internet Radio System, also called SurferRadio™ by GEODE Electronics, LLC, as described in co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent application No. 60/1 15.073, filed January 7, 1999. entitled Internet Radio System, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference thereto. In general, entertainment services suffer restricted consumer response if the consumer is charged a subscription fee. Thus, the most popular entertainment services are the free, over-the-air broadcast radio and television. These services are able to broadcast their entertainment content freely to consumers because they are supported by advertising. The advertising material is interleaved over time with the program content so that consumers are exposed to advertising proportionate to the amount of time they spend benefiting from the broadcaster^'s program material.

There remains a need in the art for an Internet entertainment device such as an Internet Radio System to have free, advertising supported, access to Internet entertainment sources. Specifically, the advertising must pay the ISP to cover the cost of the resources consumed in the process of providing Internet connectivity to the user.

As defined in the above referenced co-pending patent application, the Internet Radio System incorporates a small display screen to enable station selection and similar processes. However, even though advertising may be presented on this display screen, the device still must be considered a radio device whose characteristic usage will be similar to other radios; that is, users will tend to listen to it as a background device, not watch it like a television. Consequently, in order to provide an advertising supported scheme for an Internet Radio System, the advertising must be audible and interleaved over time with the program content, just like broadcast radio, so that the user will hear advertising proportionate to the amount of time they spend connected to the Internet. Since an Internet Radio System is a narrow purpose appliance suitable only to radio listening on the Internet, the amount of time spent listening is approximately the same as the amount of time spent connected to the Internet. Thus, interleaved advertising is proportionate to both time spent listening and time connected.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a method for providing a free Internet connection for an Internet Radio System in which the cost of the connection is subsidized by advertising. This method anticipates a cooperation between one or more radio stations providing their content on the Internet, one or more Internet Hosting Services providing access to the radio station content, one or more Internet Service Providers providing consumer access to the Internet, and advertisers.

Generally stated, this method enables an Internet Service Provider to transmit advertisements to a user by: (a) creating a no-cost Internet connection between an Internet Service Provider and a user; (b) arranging for the Internet Service Provider to receive a plurality of advertisements from at least one advertiser for monetary consideration; and (c) transmitting at least one of the advertisements to the user. Preferably, the advertisements are received by the user via an Internet radio system, which permits audio as well as visual advertisement transmission. Advantageously, the method of the present invention permits a user to receive the advertisements from an Internet Service Provider via a free Internet connection in exchange for which the user hears advertisements generated by an advertiser.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be more fully understood and further advantages will become apparent when reference is had to the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram representing the flow of information and services between at least one advertiser, a radio station on the Internet, an Internet Service Provider, an Internet Radio System with a graphical interface, and an Internet Radio System user in which the user receives no-cost Internet access for radio entertainment in return for receiving at least one advertisement from the Internet Service Provider, which is monetarily compensated for delivering said advertisement;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram similar to FIG. 1 in which the advertising is delivered from an advertiser to a radio station on the Internet, and transmitted from the radio station to the Internet Radio System via the Internet Service Provider, in which the Internet Service Provider is monetarily compensated by the radio station; and

FIG. 3 is a variation of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 in which an Internet Hosting Service substitutes advertising received from the radio station with advertising received from an advertiser, and transmits the substituted advertising to the user via the Internet Service Provider, which is monetarily compensated by said Internet Hosting Service.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention provides a method for providing a free Internet connection in which the cost of the connection is subsidized by advertising. More specifically, the method enables an Internet Service Provider to transmit advertisements to a user by: (a) creating a no-cost Internet connection between an Internet Service Provider and a user; (b) arranging for the Internet Service Provider to receive a plurality of advertisements from at least one advertiser for monetary consideration, wherein the advertisements may be received directly from the advertiser, or indirectly from the radio station or an Internet Hosting Service; and (c) transmitting at least one of the advertisements to the user in exchange for monetary compensation offsetting the cost of providing the free Internet connection. Said Internet Hosting Service may be the same entity as the Internet Service Provider. Advertisements may be audio ads inserted by the Internet Hosting Service as replacements for audio ads received in the entertainment stream from a radio station, as described in co-pending U.S. Patent application "System for Modifying Advertising Content of Internet Radio Broadcasts" by Emerson, et al., dated February 10, 1999, the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference thereto. The invention will be more fully understood from the following description of the preferred embodiments, taken in connection with the appended drawings. Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawings, there is shown a radio station 10 connected to the Internet communications network 12. The communications network 12 includes a service provider 13, also referred to as an Internet Service Provider ("ISP"), and an Internet Radio System 14 with a graphical interface 16 by which an Internet Radio System user 18 can receive, hear and view communications from the service provider 13.

The Internet Radio System, marketed by Geode Electronics, LLC, under the tradename "SurferRadio™" is specifically described in co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent application of Emerson et al., filed January 7, 1999, for "Internet Radio System", the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference thereto. Generally stated, Internet radios are devices for providing Internet access to audio and visual content providers that include: (a) a means to connect to the Internet encompassing a modem, modem communications software, and a phone line connections; (b) an automatic logging-in means for connecting to a predetermined Internet Service Provider including automatic dialing and an automatic login process; ( c) an authorizing identification means to identify the device type to the Internet Service Provider; (d) a means to connect to a predetermined Internet Hosting Service, which may be the same entity as the Internet Service Provider; (e) a means for custom connection to the Internet Hosting Service such that the Internet Hosting Service recognizes and cooperates with the unique nature of the device type; (f) a means to receive advertiser supported content including advertising such as interleaved audio ads and display ads; (g) a means for a display screen which can show the channel selection process, visual display ads, text and control messages, and other information deemed desirable to the consumer, advertiser, content provider and other service providers on the network; (h) a means to select among different audio content provider channels which is managed by a predetermined set of commands unique to this device type; (i) a means to select among different audio content provider channels via selections such as by content type (i.e. jazz, classical, news, sports, etc.), by location of content provider (local, city, country), and by language; and (j) audio means for receiving and playing Internet radio content such as offered by radio stations and other audio content providers broadcasting on the Internet. As is well known, the Internet 12 comprises a multitude of sites, each of which is specific for particular information. Thus, the service provider 13 is capable of transmitting information from sources on the Internet 12, such as radio stations 10. to the user. Means for transmitting such information are readily available and outside of the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, entertainment content 20 is broadcast over the Internet 12 from the radio station 10 to the Internet Radio System 14 via the service provider 13. In accordance with the present invention, a plurality of advertisers 22 deliver audio, audio/visual, or visual advertising indicated by solid line 24, and some type of monetary consideration indicated by dashed line 26, to the service provider 13, as compensation for delivering advertisements 24 to user 18 via Internet Radio System 14. Advertiser 22 may act as an agent for the service provider 13, or may be the same entity as service provider 13, and may deliver advertising 24 promoting business offerings of service provider 13. In this arrangement, the economic value derived from delivering advertising 24 on behalf of service provider 13 will serve in lieu of monetary compensation 26 to service provider 13. Visual advertising 24 is presented on graphical interface 16 for viewing by user 18, and audible advertising 24 is played aloud by Internet Radio System 14 in the fashion of traditional radio. As used herein, a plurality of advertisers 15 refers to at least one advertiser. Likewise, advertisements refer to at least one advertisement. Naturally, such payment 26 to the service provider 13 would conform to generally accepted industry standards. Advantageously, the monetary consideration 26 paid to the service provider 13 provides service provider 13 with sufficient operating revenue to provide user 18 access to the Internet 12 without payment by user 18.

The timing of the transmission of the advertisements 24 is not fixed and can be based upon the preference of advertiser 22 or service provider 13. Thus, adv ertisements 24 can be transmitted to user 18 during initial access or during one or more preselected intervals of time extant while Internet Radio System 14 is connected to the service provider 13 for reception of radio entertainment.

Referring now to FIG. 2 of the drawings, the entities in the diagram are the same as those described in FIG. 1. User 18 connects to radio station 10 on Internet 12 via Internet Radio System 14 and service provider 13. Advertisers 22 provide audio, audio/visual, or visual advertising 24 to radio station 10, along with monetary consideration 26. As part of the entertainment content stream 20, Radio station 10 delivers advertising 24 to user 18 via Internet Radio System 14 and service provider 13. which may be played audibly, presented on graphical display 16, or both. Radio station 10. in turn, compensates service provider 13 with monetary consideration 28 for delivering entertainment content 20 to user 18, without the separate payment of a user fee. Thus, service provider 13 provides user 18 and Internet Radio System 14 with a free Internet connection.

Advantageously, this system permits a user 18 to listen to entertainment content 20 which is interleaved with audio advertisements 24 while visual advertisements are transmitted to user 18 via the graphical interface 16 of the Internet Radio System 14. In this manner, visual advertisements can be continuously transmitted to the user 18 at the same time that audio content and audio advertising are also transmitted to user 18.

Optionally, the arrangement may further comprise an Internet Hosting Service, hereinafter described as "hosting service". In FIG. 3, there is illustrated a hosting service 33 having the capability to receive transmissions from the radio station 10 and pass these transmissions onto user 18. Hosting service 33 may be any type of service which has the ability to receive communications from a radio station 10. Therefore, hosting service 33 may be a private communications entity, a broadcasting network data center, a service provider or the like. In one embodiment, hosting service 33 may comprise the same entity as the service provider 13. Importantly, as described in co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent application of Emerson et al., entitled "System for Modifying Advertising Content of Internet Radio Broadcasts", filed February 10, 1999, hosting service 33 can have the capability to remove and replace advertisements, whether comprised of audio, audio/visual, or video content, which are transmitted by the radio station 10 with advertisements of a similar nature offered by the hosting service 33. Thus, hosting service 33 has the ability to pass the entertainment content 20 received from radio station 10 through the service

Claims

provider 13 to user 18, but may substitute the advertising received from the adveπisers 22 in place of the advertising transmitted by radio station 10. In this instance, the hosting service 33 receives monetary consideration 26 from the advertisers. In turn, the hosting service 33 pays some or all of the monetary consideration 26 received from the advertisers 22 to the service provider 13. This channeling of money to the service provider 13 allows the service provider to provide no-cost Internet access to a user.Having thus described the invention in rather full detail, it will be understood that such detail need not be strictly adhered to but that various changes and modifications may suggest themselves to one skilled in the art, all falling within the scope of the present invention as defined by subjoined claims.CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1 . A method for providing a free Internet connection to a user of an Internet Radio System by enabling an Internet Service Provider to transmit advertisements to said user, comprising: a) creating a no-cost Internet connection between an Internet Service Provider and an Internet Radio System; b) arranging for the Internet Service Provider to receive a plurality of advertisements from at least one advertiser for monetary consideration; and c) transmitting at least one of the advertisements to the user.

2. A method for providing a free Internet connection to a user of an Internet Radio System as recited in Claim 1 , wherein said advertisements are audible.

3. A method for providing a free Internet connection to a user of an Internet Radio System as recited in Claim 1 , wherein said advertisements are visual.

4. A method for providing a free Internet connection to a user of an Internet Radio System by enabling a radio station on the Internet to transmit advertisements to said user, comprising: a) creating a no-cost Internet connection between an Internet Service Provider and an Internet Radio System; b) connecting said Internet Radio System to a radio station on the Internet via said Internet Service Provider; c) arranging for said radio station to receive a plurality of advertisements from at least one advertiser for monetary consideration; d) said radio station transmitting at least one of the advertisements to the user via said Internet Service Provider; e) said radio station being enabled by said monetary consideration, compensating said Internet Service Provider with monetary consideration for providing said user with a free Internet connection that permits said user to receive said radio station's entertainment and advertising content.

5. A method for providing a free Internet connection to a user of an Internet Radio System as recited in Claim 4, wherein said advertisements are audible.

6. A method for providing a free Internet connection to a user of an Internet Radio System as recited in Claim 4, wherein said advertisements are visual.

7. A method for providing a free Internet connection to a user of an Internet

Radio System as recited in Claim 4, wherein said advertisements are audible and are interleaved with the entertainment content.

8. A method for providing a free Internet connection to a user of an Internet

Radio System by enabling an Internet Hosting Service to transmit advertisements to said Internet Radio System, comprising the steps of: a) connecting said Internet Radio System accessed by said user to an Internet Service Provider; b) connecting said Internet Radio System to an Internet Hosting Service having access to one or more radio stations providing their program content on the Internet, which Hosting Service may be said Internet Service Provider; c) transmitting Internet radio programs from said radio station to said Internet Hosting Service; d) re-transmitting said Internet radio programs from said Internet Hosting

Service to said Internet Radio System; e) said Internet Hosting Service receiving advertisements from one or more advertisers; f) transmitting at least one advertisement from said Internet Hosting Service to said Internet Radio System; g) said Internet Hosting Service receiving monetary consideration from said advertiser in exchange for delivering said advertisements to said user of said Internet Radio System; h) said Internet Hosting Service being enabled by said monetary consideration compensating said Internet Service Provider on behalf of said Internet Radio System user for providing Internet connectivity to said Internet Radio System; i) said user receiving said radio programs through said Internet Service Provider via said free Internet connection in exchange for receiving said advertisement on said Internet Radio System.

9. A method for providing a free Internet connection to a user of an Internet

Radio System as recited in Claim 8, wherein said advertisements are audible.

10. A method for providing a free Internet connection to a user of an Internet Radio System as recited in Claim 8. wherein said advertisements are visual.

1 1. A method for providing a free Internet connection to a user of an Internet Radio System as recited in Claim 8, wherein said advertisements are audible and are interleaved with the entertainment content.