WO2007015845A2 - Procede et dispositif pour distribution de contenu media - Google Patents

Procede et dispositif pour distribution de contenu media Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO2007015845A2
WO2007015845A2 PCT/US2006/027810 US2006027810W WO2007015845A2 WO 2007015845 A2 WO2007015845 A2 WO 2007015845A2 US 2006027810 W US2006027810 W US 2006027810W WO 2007015845 A2 WO2007015845 A2 WO 2007015845A2
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
supplemental content
user
consumer
content
played
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2006/027810
Other languages
English (en)
Other versions
WO2007015845A3 (fr
Inventor
Robert Charles Martin
Original Assignee
Nossatv, Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Nossatv, Inc. filed Critical Nossatv, Inc.
Publication of WO2007015845A2 publication Critical patent/WO2007015845A2/fr
Publication of WO2007015845A3 publication Critical patent/WO2007015845A3/fr

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N7/00—Television systems
    • H04N7/16—Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems
    • H04N7/162—Authorising the user terminal, e.g. by paying; Registering the use of a subscription channel, e.g. billing
    • H04N7/163—Authorising the user terminal, e.g. by paying; Registering the use of a subscription channel, e.g. billing by receiver means only
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
    • H04N21/442—Monitoring of processes or resources, e.g. detecting the failure of a recording device, monitoring the downstream bandwidth, the number of times a movie has been viewed, the storage space available from the internal hard disk
    • H04N21/44213—Monitoring of end-user related data
    • H04N21/44222—Analytics of user selections, e.g. selection of programs or purchase activity
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
    • H04N21/254—Management at additional data server, e.g. shopping server, rights management server
    • H04N21/2543—Billing, e.g. for subscription services
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
    • H04N21/258—Client or end-user data management, e.g. managing client capabilities, user preferences or demographics, processing of multiple end-users preferences to derive collaborative data
    • H04N21/25866—Management of end-user data
    • H04N21/25883—Management of end-user data being end-user demographical data, e.g. age, family status or address
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
    • H04N21/258—Client or end-user data management, e.g. managing client capabilities, user preferences or demographics, processing of multiple end-users preferences to derive collaborative data
    • H04N21/25866—Management of end-user data
    • H04N21/25891—Management of end-user data being end-user preferences
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/25—Management operations performed by the server for facilitating the content distribution or administrating data related to end-users or client devices, e.g. end-user or client device authentication, learning user preferences for recommending movies
    • H04N21/262—Content or additional data distribution scheduling, e.g. sending additional data at off-peak times, updating software modules, calculating the carousel transmission frequency, delaying a video stream transmission, generating play-lists
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
    • H04N21/431—Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering
    • H04N21/4312—Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
    • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
    • H04N21/431—Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering
    • H04N21/4312—Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations
    • H04N21/4314—Generation of visual interfaces for content selection or interaction; Content or additional data rendering involving specific graphical features, e.g. screen layout, special fonts or colors, blinking icons, highlights or animations for fitting data in a restricted space on the screen, e.g. EPG data in a rectangular grid
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/60—Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client 
    • H04N21/65—Transmission of management data between client and server
    • H04N21/654—Transmission by server directed to the client
    • H04N21/6543—Transmission by server directed to the client for forcing some client operations, e.g. recording
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
    • H04N21/80—Generation or processing of content or additional data by content creator independently of the distribution process; Content per se
    • H04N21/81—Monomedia components thereof
    • H04N21/812—Monomedia components thereof involving advertisement data
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
    • H04N7/00—Television systems
    • H04N7/16—Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems
    • H04N7/173—Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems with two-way working, e.g. subscriber sending a programme selection signal
    • H04N7/17309—Transmission or handling of upstream communications
    • H04N7/17318—Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Definitions

  • the present invention relates broadly to technology for distributing media content and more particularly to technology for providing economic benefit to consumers and content providers as to the content distributed.
  • the information may be of one or more of many different types, such as textual information, graphic information, video information, and executable program code information and may be distributed using one or more of many types of media, such as paper, film, tape, disc (for example, floppy discs, hard discs, compact discs (CD's), digital video discs/digital versatile discs (DVD's), etc.), networks (for example, internet, intranet, wireless networks, etc.), etc.
  • media such as paper, film, tape, disc (for example, floppy discs, hard discs, compact discs (CD's), digital video discs/digital versatile discs (DVD's), etc.), networks (for example, internet, intranet, wireless networks, etc.), etc.
  • the economic cost borne by an information consumer manifests itself in the form of the consumer's time, such as time during which desired program content is interrupted to present supplemental content, such as commercial advertisements.
  • the supplemental content provider typically pays the program content provider to provide the supplemental content to the consumer, and the program content provider can use at least a portion of that revenue to pay expenses related to providing the program content to the consumer.
  • Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system 101 in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of management node 102 in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figures 3A and 3B are a flow diagram illustrating a method in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figures 4A, 4B, and 4C are a flow diagram illustrating a method in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a program content file 501 in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a processing system that may be used to implement one or more nodes of a system in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figure 7 is a block diagram illustrating a system in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figure 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a method in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figures 9A and 9B are a flow diagram illustrating a method in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figure 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a method in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.
  • At least one embodiment of the present invention provides a method and apparatus for media content distribution.
  • the media content comprises program content selected to be played for a user.
  • the program content is provided in a manner that results in the playing of the program content and supplemental content in temporal succession. For example, after a portion of the program content has been played over a first period of time, a portion of the supplemental content is played over a second period of time. Then, after the playing of the portion of the supplemental content over the second period of time is complete, another portion of the program content is played over a third period of time.
  • a mechanism is provided to inhibit the playing of the other portion of the program content during the third period of time until the playing of the supplemental content during the second period of time is complete.
  • program content and supplemental content may be played concurrently.
  • supplemental content may be displayed along a margin of the program content or in a defined area within or outside of the program content.
  • a defined area may be a static or dynamic area defined without respect to the image components of the program content.
  • a defined area may be a static or dynamic area defined with respect to at least one image component of the program content. For example, if a commercially available product is being displayed as an image component of the program content, a logo, trademark, service mark, or other commercial identifier may be superimposed on that product.
  • the supplemental content for the user is selected based on consumer information pertaining to the user, such as demographic information.
  • the consumer information may be obtained from the user by providing an incentive to disclose such information, such as remuneration for allowing the supplemental content to be played for the user.
  • the consumer information may comprise demographic information such as a user's age information, which may be expressed as a particular age, an age range, an age threshold, a date of birth, a month of birth, or a year of birth; a gender, and a geographic region, such as a country, a region of a country, a state or a province, a metropolitan area, a county, a city, a postal code, or some other identifier of geographic region.
  • the consumer information may comprise historic viewing information, which may, for example, be collected from at least one consumer node, pertaining to program content that has been played for the user, preference information as to preferences of the user, habit information pertaining to habits of the user, offer usage information pertaining to usage by the user of offers presented in supplemental content, such as coupon code offers, redemption information pertaining to a user's redemption of benefit in relation to an account corresponding to the user.
  • Viewing information may relate to viewing that occurred either online, where the consumer node was provided with an ability to communicate with management node 102 at a time at which the program content was played, or offline, where the consumer node was provided with an ability to communicate with management node 102 after the program content was played.
  • a plurality of supplemental content providers can bid for supplemental content viewing opportunities for users based on users' consumer information, thereby creating a competitive marketplace for each individual users' viewing , time. Allowing supplemental content providers to bid on individual users' viewing time allows a unique set of supplemental content to be played for each user that is based upon his/her demographics and viewing history so that users watching the same program content may receive a different set of supplemental content to be displayed in conjunction with the program content.
  • FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system 101 in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.
  • System 101 comprises management node 102; content provider nodes 103, 104, and 105; marketing nodes 106, 107, and 108; consumer nodes 109, 110, and 111 ; and, optionally, external program content database 112 and/or royalty server 113.
  • Content provider nodes 103, 104, and 105 are coupled to management node 102 and provide program content to management node 102.
  • Marketing nodes 106, 107, and 108 are coupled to management node 102 and provide supplemental content to management node 102.
  • Consumer nodes 109, 110, and 111 are coupled to management node 102 and receive program content and supplemental content from management node 102, where the supplemental content may, for example, be implemented using separate files stored locally and queued for playing sequentially with program content so as to effectively integrate the supplemental content with the program content or streamed to a consumer node for playing for a user.
  • Consumer nodes 109, 110, and 1 11 may communicate among themselves, for example, using peer-to-peer networks, or they may communicate via an external program content database 112 to access program content and/or supplemental content.
  • the numbers of content provider nodes 103, 104, and 105, marketing nodes 106, 107, and 108, consumer nodes 109, 110, and 111, and external program content database 112 are merely exemplary. Systems may be implemented with more or fewer of any such elements in any combinations.
  • the distribution of functionality between the nodes is exemplary and could be implemented in different ways. For example, the functionality of multiple nodes, such as the content provider and marketing nodes, may be combined in a single node. As another example, functionality described with respect to any one node or combination of nodes may be implemented using a larger number of nodes.
  • Program content provided by one or more of content provider nodes 103, 104, and 105 is received by management node 102.
  • Management node 102 prepares the program content for distribution in a manner intended to prevent use of the program content without the inclusion of supplemental content.
  • management node 102 may insert cues for supplemental content to be played at intervals during the playing of the program content.
  • the cues may be inserted within the program content at points corresponding to the times during the temporal progression of the playing of the program content at which the supplemental content is to be played or the cues may be inserted at other points in the program content, for example at the beginning of the program content.
  • the cues may be spread throughout the program content in a manner that would disrupt the playing of the program content if an attempt were made to do so without also playing the supplemental content.
  • such disruption may be effected by inserting the cues in a manner that disrupts data relied upon by the coding used to compress the volume of data of the program content to a more manageable size.
  • the insertion of cues into program content encoded by a predictive coding scheme such as Motion Pictures Experts Group 2 (MPEG-2)
  • MPEG-2 Motion Pictures Experts Group 2
  • the cues By inserting cues in a manner such that they alter at least a portion of the discrete cosine transform (DCT) coded I-frame information, the cues would not only be useful for indicating that supplemental content should be played, but they would further be useful to disrupt not only the playing of the I- frames, but also the playing of the P-frames and B-frames if an attempt were made to circumvent the provisions for playing the supplemental content with the program content.
  • DCT discrete cosine transform
  • the program content may be provided to one or more of consumer nodes 109, 110, and 111, either directly or indirectly.
  • management node 102 may forward the program content to one or more external program content databases 112 for distribution to consumer nodes 109, 1 10, and/or 1 11 .
  • management node 102 may forward the program content to a consumer node that then forwards the content to one or more external program content databases 112 for further distribution to other consumer nodes.
  • several of consumer nodes 109, 110, and 1 1 1 may communicate the program content among themselves, for example, using a peer-to-peer network.
  • at least one embodiment of the present invention is compatible with all practical forms of data communication, including ones that are historically problematic from the standpoint of protection of intellectual property rights, such as peer-to-peer networking.
  • management node 102 for processing program content provided by one or more of program content provider nodes 103, 104, and 105 may be implemented separately from other functionality of management node 102. If, for example, the functionality for processing program content is implemented at one or more of content provider nodes 103, 104, and 105, such content provider nodes may distribute program content directly to consumer nodes and/or external program content databases independent of the management node 102.
  • Supplemental content provided by one or more of marketing nodes 106, 107, and 108 is provided to management node 102 for delivery to one or more consumer nodes as indicated. Consumers may also pass supplemental content to each other. Supplemental content may be provided directly, for example, in the form of at least one file that is queued or streamed in real time to at least one consumer node, or indirectly, for example, being first communicated to a consumer node or another entity, then being communicated to at least one other consumer node, for example, via a peer-to-peer network, thereby allowing users to view supplemental content indirectly obtained at their consumer nodes, for example, as supervised by the management node.
  • a marketing node may further provide consumer information criteria for selecting users at consumer nodes wherein consumer information pertaining to such users conforms to the consumer information criteria.
  • consumers whom supplemental content providers wish to present particular supplemental content may be identified based on the consumer information pertaining to them. Consequently, the inefficiency of presenting the particular supplemental content to users who would not likely be interested in it can be avoided, potentially resulting in cost savings for supplemental content providers, who may be charged for the presentation of the supplemental content to the users at the consumer node.
  • Supplemental content providers may further specify bid values to be transmitted from one or more of marketing nodes 106, 107, and 108 to management node 102.
  • bid values may be generalized or specific to particular supplemental content and/or consumer information criteria.
  • a supplemental content provider may indicate various levels of cost that it would be willing to pay for presentation of that particular instance of supplemental content to various users conforming to various consumer information criteria.
  • Multiple supplemental content providers may provide multiple bid values for multiple consumer information criteria for multiple instances of supplemental content. The management node 102 can then find the economically optimal collection of supplemental content to be provided to a user based on the user's consumer information.
  • management node 102 may elect to provide the supplemental content of the higher paying supplemental content provider to the appropriate consumer node for playing for the user.
  • a supplemental content provider may also specify other criteria pertaining to the playing of supplemental content.
  • a supplemental content provider may communicate to management node 102 criteria affecting the time at which particular supplemental content should be played (e.g., time of day and/or day of week).
  • a supplemental content provider may communicate to management node 102 criteria affecting the particular program content with which the supplemental content is to be played or the program content provider whose program content should be played with the supplemental content.
  • the supplemental content that the management node assigns to a consumer node corresponding to a user may be unique to that user. For example, two users who elect to view the same programming content may experience different supplemental content based upon their unique demographics and viewing histories. In this manner, the management node will be able to optimize the supplemental content for each user to extract the most value based upon the user's unique demographics and viewing history. In this manner, a customized set of supplemental content can be provided to each consumer node where each instance of supplemental content is has been chosen based upon a winning bid by the supplemental content provider for time with a unique user.
  • supplemental content to be provided to a user may be customized in at least some manner for that particular user, For example, unique information may be added to supplemental content that is otherwise intended for distribution among many users. Such unique information may, for example, be in the form of a coupon code that may be redeemed by the user to provide some benefit to the user, such as a discount on a product or service or some additional promotional product or service in addition to another product or service ordered by the user.
  • Historical information obtained from the use of such unique information may be utilized by a supplemental content provider to further refine the criteria used to select supplemental content to be played for a user. For example, a user who has responded to offers presented in previous supplemental content may be identified to be provided with additional supplemental content (e.g., that in which the user might be expected to be interested). Such additional supplemental content may be presented based on unique information pertaining to previous supplemental content from the same supplemental content provider or a different supplemental content provider (e.g., a competitor of the supplemental content provider providing the additional supplemental content).
  • the use of unique information in supplemental content may be used to increase a user's interest in viewing the supplemental content played for the user. For example, if a user ignores the supplemental content, the user may forego the opportunity to benefit from an offer presented using the unique information.
  • Other features may also be implemented to ensure that a user is watching supplemental information played for him. For example, an automated Turing test may be implemented using the supplemental content so as to assure that a user possessing cognitive abilities of a human being is watching the supplemental content being played.
  • an interactive feature such as a feature using an automated Turing test would be useful for assuring that the economic benefit conferred bears a relationship to the supplemental content actually viewed by the user.
  • a user may be required to correctly respond to an interactive feature in order to obtain an amount of economic benefit.
  • Such an interactive feature may be provided with every instance of supplemental content or, to provide a less tedious experience, it may be provided less frequently,
  • the economic benefit conferred upon a user may be based at least in part on the amount of supplemental content being played, the amount being charged to the supplemental content provider for the playing of the supplemental content for the user, the bid value of the supplemental content provider and/or other supplemental content providers, the consumer information of the user, and/or other factors.
  • the economic benefit to the user may be credited to an account of the user maintained by management node 102.
  • Economic benefit may comprise monetary value, discounts, benefit redeemable for goods or services, and/or other forms of benefits, such as an increase or decrease in the amount of supplemental content that will be displayed at a consumer node. Different portions of the account may be maintained for different types of economic benefit.
  • a user in a case where economic benefit is conferred as an increase or decrease in the amount of supplemental content that will be displayed at a consumer node, a user can be rewarded for bearing an economic cost, which may comprise viewing supplemental content or some other economic cost, by receiving less than a standard amount of supplement content defined by the management node that will be displayed at the consumer node in the future.
  • an economic cost or an economic benefit may be assigned to a consumer node associated with the user or an account associated with the user.
  • a user may bear an economic cost for such action.
  • a user may bear an economic cost for such action.
  • a user may bear an economic cost for such action.
  • a user bearing such an economic cost would be the display of additional supplemental content at the consumer node associated with the user.
  • system 101 may be configured to allow a user a greater degree of control over personal data provided to system 101.
  • incentives may be provided for a user to provide more personal data while still allowing the user to retain control over the amount of personal data submitted. Effectively, the user can be rewarded for a value inherent in the user's personal data, thereby empowering the user with greater control over that personal data.
  • users may be provided with an option to keep their personal data from being collected by management node 102, or, alternatively, rewarded with economic benefit for allowing their personal information to be collected by the management node 102.
  • the management node provides isolation of the consumer nodes from any marketing nodes or other third party entities providing supplemental content or specifying criteria under which supplement content should be played or provided for playing to consumer nodes by receiving the supplemental content at the management node, providing the received supplemental content to the consumer nodes, then, if appropriate, obtaining an acknowledgement that the supplemental content has been played by at least a portion of the consumer nodes.
  • the management node may then communicate information sanitized of personally identifiable data, such as prices and times for the supplemental content that was played, to the marketing node and/or third-party entity that provided the supplemental content or arranged for the supplemental content to be played. Accordingly, supplemental content may be obtained, provided to a selected relevant audience of consumer nodes for playing, played, acknowledged, and accounted for without disclosure of personally identifiable data pertaining to the consumer nodes or their users being communicated to either the marketing node or any third party entities that may be involved in providing supplemental content or arranging for supplemental content to be played.
  • personally identifiable data such as prices and times for the supplemental content that was played
  • Management node 102 may be configured to simply maintain one or more balances indicative of the economic benefit conferred upon a user or it may positively or negatively adjust those balances either continuously or discontinuously over time. For example, the management node 102 may pay interest on a balance, periodically reward a user for maintaining a balance in excess of a threshold, reward a user for continuing to use the system beyond a temporal threshold, reward a user on a periodic basis based upon a bid value provided by supplemental content providers, for example, at the time of reward (e.g., a dividend system), cause a diminution in the balance based on an aging of the economic benefit, enforce an expiration of an economic benefit after a temporal threshold, or cause other positive or negative changes to the balance based on other factors.
  • supplemental content providers for example, at the time of reward (e.g., a dividend system)
  • Management node 102 may be configured to provide a user with enhanced control of the user's privacy, for example, by allowing the user place limits on the supplemental content provided in conjunction with the viewing of program content and/or by allowing the user to control the propagation of information as to the program content and/or supplemental content being played for the user.
  • a user may elect certain types of supplemental content to receive or not to receive and/or may elect to receive or not to receive supplemental content from certain supplemental content providers.
  • a user may be allowed to define a profile of supplemental content that the user wishes to have played and optionally to attribute weightings to such a profile.
  • a user may be allowed to define such a profile to comprise other attributes, such as temporal preferences (e.g., time of day and/or day of week) for viewing supplemental content having particular attributes or preferences of types of program content or program content providers for which supplemental content having particular attributes should be played.
  • temporal preferences e.g., time of day and/or day of week
  • management node 102 Since allowing a user to influence the supplemental content to be provided may cause management node 102 to deviate from the selection of what would otherwise be economically optimal supplemental content for that user, it is expected that a user would bear some economic cost as a result of placing constraints on the operation of system 101. In addition to such inherent economic costs of such constraints, management node 102 may impose a charge upon a user for placing limitations on the supplemental content to be played for that user. [0039] A user may be allowed to limit the propagation of information pertaining to the program content and/or the supplemental content played for the user.
  • management node 102 While management node 102 would possess information as to the supplemental content provided to be played for the user if it were responsible for selecting that supplemental content, a user could still be given an option to inhibit transmission of an indication that the supplemental content has been played for the user. However, if management node 102 were not to receive such an indication from the user, it could be configured to inhibit the crediting of economic benefit to the user's account that would otherwise occur. Thus, the user would bear an economic cost for placing such a limitation on the propagation of that information.
  • management node 102 Since such a limitation might prevent management node 102 from charging a fee to the supplemental content provider for the playing of the supplemental content, management node 102 might charge the user an amount equal to, less than, or greater than the fee that would otherwise be charged to the supplemental content provider. Thus, a user could be afforded greater privacy upon payment of the economic cost associated with such greater privacy.
  • a spectrum of privacy selection may be provided for a user, wherein benefit or cost to a user may be allocated in accordance with a selected level of privacy. For example, economic cost or benefit may be allocated in a linear or nonlinear manner with respect to the selected level of privacy (and/or other factors). Moreover, the allocation process, as well as the costs and/or benefits associated with any aspect of the process may be adjusted, either incrementally over time or automatically, to take into account any market forces that may affect economic price equilibria.
  • cost to supplemental content provider for a given amount of access to a user may be adjusted as a number of supplemental content providers changes, as seasonal or other temporal effects motivate a variation in the demand for such access, as user attributes are perceived to change in a manner that would affect desirability of access to a user possessing such user attributes, or in response to other market forces.
  • Economic benefit may be conferred upon a user based on a variety of factors, for example, an acknowledgement or a likelihood that supplemental content has been viewed by the user, an amount of supplemental content indicated to have been played, and/or user attributes of consumer information pertaining to the user.
  • economic benefit may be conferred upon a user based, at least in part, upon supplemental content viewed by the user, which optionally may occur independent of any particular program content that may be played at a consumer node for the user.
  • supplemental content providers need not concern themselves with attempting to associate specific supplemental content with specific program content, but may instead direct the playing of supplemental content toward consumer nodes of users whose consumer information conforms to consumer information criteria specified by supplemental content providers.
  • a user may be given an option of the amount of supplemental content to be played in relation to a given amount of program content. For example, a user may opt for more frequent interruptions of program content for increased instances of supplemental content so as to increase the economic benefit obtained by the user. As another example, a user may opt for less frequent interruptions of program content for decreased instances of supplemental content if the user is willing to pay the economic cost that would be charged for such a reduction in supplemental content being played.
  • a user may be allowed to limit the propagation of information pertaining to the program content so as to create a private viewing space in which the user could view any desired content without allowing identification of that content to be associated with identification of that user.
  • Such an option could be advantageously applied to a peer-to-peer networking context, where even the communication of the program content to the user would need not be known to any centralized server or database.
  • management node 102 could generate revenue from supplemental program providers and confer economic benefit on the user for whom the private program content is being played without compromising the user's privacy as to the identification of the private program content.
  • System 101 is capable of accommodating various types of program content from various types of program content providers.
  • program content may comprise program content licensed under buy out licenses, term limit blanket licenses, single production blanket licenses, and/or needle drop licenses, as well as program content in the public domain or licensed without payment of royalties.
  • management node 102 is able to provide an accounting of such instances (e.g., a cue sheet) to program content providers, allowing management node 102 to be able to facilitate the correct accounting for needle drop licenses.
  • At least a portion of funds generated from fees charged to supplemental content providers for playing supplemental content for a user may be allocated by management node 102 to pay royalties or other expenses to program content providers.
  • management node 102 may be lacking information of sufficient detail to allow appropriate allocation of such funds.
  • Various techniques may be implemented to provide proper payment of royalties and expenses to program content providers under such circumstances. For example, an amount of time during which private program content is played for a user may be monitored based on the amount and frequency of supplemental content provided to be played for a user in conjunction with that user's viewing of private program content. Revenue derived from fees charged to supplemental content providers for supplemental content played in conjunction with private program content may be allocated among a plurality of program content providers. To the extent that relative popularity among private program content is known, respective private program content providers can be paid in accordance with such popularity.
  • a separate royalty server 113 in communication with one or more consumer nodes, such as consumer nodes 109, 1 10, and 1 1 1, may be used to obtain information for the purpose of royalty management.
  • a level of privacy may be maintained.
  • consumer nodes may transmit sufficient information to royalty server 1 13 to allow royalty server 1 13 to allocate payment of royalties while inhibiting further communication of information that could be used to identify the program content being viewed by individually-identifiable consumer nodes.
  • royalty server 1 13 may be provided with an interface to management node 102 to allow passing limited information, such as amounts by which royalty payments should be distributed, to management node 102, thereby protecting the privacy of other information not communicated to management node 102.
  • economic cost can be imposed on users electing to view program content privately so as to offset inefficiencies and inequities that might occur as a result of the users making such an election. Revenue generated from imposing such economic cost can be distributed among program content providers in lieu of needle drop royalties that might otherwise apply.
  • program content providers and/or program content may be grouped into a plurality of groups.
  • An indication of the group to corresponding to the program content being viewed or the program content provider of the program content being viewed may be communicated from the consumer node of the user to management node 102.
  • the members of such groups may be distributed among the various groups so as to increase the difficulty of correlating a particular group with a particular type of program content or a particular program content provider.
  • the sizes of such groups may be selected so as to strike an appropriate balance between the privacy of the users and the accuracy of payments to program content providers for the playing of their respective program content.
  • management node 102 can provide for payment of royalties and/or other expenses to program content providers corresponding to that group.
  • the assignment of program content and/or program content providers to such groups may be systematically varied among users so as to identify patterns pertaining to specific members of such groups. For example, by making the group identifier dependent upon value of a user identifier corresponding to the user such that different users might provide different group identifiers for the same example of program content, patterns among different users can be compared to yield an aggregate estimate of popularity for the program content viewed privately or program content providers corresponding to such program content. Such an aggregate estimate can be used to accurately allocate payments among program content providers for program content viewed privately.
  • a program content file may be modified upon viewing so as to retain such information. While such information could be merely a count of how many times the program content has been played, an approach that provides for some level of verification of the information is preferred.
  • management node 102 may issue viewing certificates to consumer nodes that consumer nodes may include with the program content file upon viewing the program content of that program content file.
  • Such viewing certificates comprise authentication information that allow them to be authenticated as being issued from management node 102, but need not include any identification information that would allow them to be correlated with the identity of any particular consumer node.
  • management node 102 supply at least one viewing certificate per viewing of program content and preferably restricting consumer nodes to using only one viewing certificate for each viewing of program content, the likelihood of obtaining a one-to-one correspondence between the number of times that a program content file is viewed and the number of unique viewing certificates applied toward that program content file is maximized.
  • useful information pertaining to viewing of program content files such as an inventory of what supplemental content has been played for each viewing instance, may be obtained even in a peer-to-peer file sharing environment and even when consumer nodes elect an enhanced privacy mode.
  • management node 102 or a separate element, such as royalty server 1 13 can retrieve program content files that have been viewed and extract viewing information, which may be used, for example, to allocate royalties or other expenses and/or to track popularity of program content.
  • each copy of a program content file would contain viewing information provided by those consumer nodes where the program content was played, so to obtain a practical estimate of how many times a particular work of program content was played, a statistically significance number of copies of copies of files of a particular work of program content should be examined.
  • Allocation of royalties or other expenses may be performed by obtaining comparably representative quantities of viewing information for the program content among which the allocation is to be determined or by normalizing varying, but still statistically significant, quantities of viewing information for different works of program content.
  • normalizing may be performed by extrapolating available viewing information to obtain an estimate of a total number of times that a work of program content has been viewed by all consumer nodes.
  • allocation of royalties or other expenses can be performed according to such comparison and/or total viewing information aggregated over all consumer nodes may be obtained.
  • Information pertaining to allocation of royalties or other expenses may be obtained by management node 102 or an external node, such as royalty server 113.
  • allocations of royalties can be viewed as allocations among copyright owners (including assignees, licensees, or agents thereof), even if accounting is otherwise performed in relation to copyrighted works owned by those copyright owners, allocation of royalties or other expenses may be performed directly among copyright owners, thereby providing additional program content viewing privacy for consumer nodes, as information as to the particular works of program content being played for viewing at a consumer node would not need to be retained or used for determination of allocations of royalties or other expenses.
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of management node 102 in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention
  • Management node 102 comprises program content administrative subsystem 201 , program content database 202, management subsystem 203, accounting subsystem 204, consumer information database 205, supplemental content administrative subsystem 206, criteria database 207, supplemental content database 208, and consumer administrative subsystem 209.
  • Program content administrative subsystem 201 is coupled and receives program content from a content provider node, such as content provider node 103, 104, or 105.
  • Program content administrative subsystem 201 processes the program content received from the content provider node to allow implementation of features provided in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.
  • program content administrative subsystem 201 is capable of modifying the program content to insert cues to cause supplemental content to be played with the program content.
  • Program content administrative subsystem 201 is also capable of encrypting the program content in a manner intended to prevent tampering with the cues.
  • the program content administrative subsystem 201 After processing the program content, the program content administrative subsystem 201 provides the program content to program content database 202, Program content database 202 is coupled to and provides the program content to a consumer node, such as consumer nodes 109, 110, or 11 1.
  • Management subsystem 203 is preferably coupled to program content administrative subsystem 201 and program content database 202, although the portion of management node 102 comprising program content administrative subsystem 201 and program content database 202 may be implemented separate from the remainder of management node 102.
  • Management subsystem 203 may be used to control the operation of program content administrative subsystem 201 and program content database 202 in conjunction with the operation of the remainder of the system.
  • management subsystem 203 is capable of requesting program content administrative subsystem to obtain and process specified program content not already available in program content database 202 for distribution to a consumer node, for example in response to a user requests received from such a consumer node.
  • a consumer node such as one or more of consumer nodes 109, 1 10, and 1 1 1 , is coupled to consumer administrative subsystem 209 and supplemental content database 208, and preferably to program content database 202.
  • One or more of consumer nodes 109, 110, and 1 1 1 is preferably coupled to at least one other of consumer nodes 109, 1 10, and 1 1 1, preferably via a peer-to-peer network.
  • the consumer node requests supplemental content from supplemental content database 208 either in advance of the playing of program content to allow the supplemental content to be cued at the consumer node and to be played in conjunction with the playing of such program content or in response to cues provided by the program content for the playing of supplemental content.
  • a consumer node may communicate with consumer administrative subsystem 209, for example to submit information pertaining to the consumer to management node 102 or to view accounting information pertaining to the user associated with the consumer node maintained at management node 102.
  • Management subsystem 203 is coupled to consumer administrative subsystem 209, supplemental content database 208, accounting subsystem 204, and consumer information database 205.
  • a user associated with a consumer node may provide consumer information pertaining to that user via consumer administrative subsystem 209 to management subsystem 203.
  • Management subsystem 203 may perform processing of that consumer information, for example qualifying that consumer information in relation to other information available to management node 102, for example for the purpose of verifying the submitted consumer information.
  • Management subsystem 203 can store consumer information in consumer information database 205.
  • Management subsystem 203 can manage accounting information in accounting subsystem 204.
  • management subsystem 203 can charge a fee to a supplemental information provider for supplemental content played for a user at a consumer node, thereby debiting an account in accounting subsystem 204 corresponding to a marketing node.
  • Management subsystem 203 can use information regarding program content played for a user at a consumer node to credit an account of a program content provider by crediting the account within accounting subsystem 204 that corresponds to the appropriate content provider node.
  • Management subsystem 203 can also credit an account of a user associated with a consumer node, for example for on the basis of supplement content played for the user, by crediting an account in accounting subsystem 204 corresponding to that user or that user's respective consumer node.
  • Management subsystem 203 is coupled to supplemental content administrative subsystem 206 and criteria database 207.
  • Supplemental content administrative subsystem 206 is coupled and receives supplemental content from a marketing node, such as marketing node 106, 107, or 108.
  • a marketing node may also provide consumer information criteria corresponding to the supplemental content.
  • a supplemental content provider can specify the users to whom the supplemental content provider wishes the supplemental content to be played based on the consumer information provided by such users.
  • the supplemental content providers can specify the amount of a fee they are willing to be charged for the playing of the supplemental content for users having desired consumer information.
  • a supplemental content provider may provide multiple elements of supplemental content and, for each of those elements, may specify an acceptable fee for the playing of that supplemental content to any number of user groups defined on the basis of the consumer information of their constituent users.
  • the criteria can be stored in criteria database 207, which is coupled to supplemental content administrative subsystem 206, and the supplemental content can be stored in supplemental content database 208, which is also coupled to supplemental content administrative subsystem 206.
  • management subsystem 203 can compare the consumer information pertaining to that user, as stored in consumer information database 205 with consumer information criteria stored in criteria database 207 to identify supplemental content stored in supplemental content database 208 that would be appropriate for the user based on the user's consumer information.
  • management subsystem 203 may select the supplemental content having the highest fee that may be charged upon the providing of that supplemental content to be played for the user.
  • the program content administrative subsystem 201 and the program content database 202 may be implemented separately from or together with the remainder of the management node 102. Also, other components of the management node 102 may be implemented separately from or together with each other. For example, the consumer administrative subsystem 209 and the supplemental content database 208 may be implemented on separate servers which, for example, may be accessible to a consumer via separate internet domain names.
  • FIGS 3A and 3B are a flow diagram illustrating a method in at least one embodiment of the present invention.
  • consumer information pertaining to a user is obtained.
  • Step 301 may optionally comprise step 319, in which consumer information selected from a group consisting of an age, a gender, and a locale of the user is obtained, and/or step 320, in which a viewing history of the user is obtained.
  • the information selected from the group consisting of the age, the gender, and the locale of the user may comprise all of the age, the gender, and the locale of the user or a subset thereof.
  • data comprising program content with cues for supplemental content are received.
  • Step 302 may comprise step 303.
  • step 303 program content comprising video program content with cues for supplemental content is received.
  • step 304 the supplemental content is obtained based on the consumer information.
  • step 305 the program and the supplemental content are played.
  • the supplemental content is preferably played in accordance with a list of supplemental content that is preferably constantly refreshed based on bidding and purchase by one or more marketing nodes of opportunities for having supplemental content displayed for viewing at one or more consumer nodes.
  • Step 305 may comprise step 306.
  • step 306 the program content and the supplemental content are played in temporal succession of each other.
  • step 307 a determination is made as to whether a enhanced privacy mode should be used. If so, the process continues to step 308. In step 308, the steps of transmitting the indication that the supplemental content has been played and transmitting the program content description are inhibited. From step 308, the process continues to step 318, where it ends. If, in step 307, the determination is made that the enhanced privacy mode should not be used, the process continues to step 309.
  • step 309 a determination is made at to whether the program content privacy mode should be used. If so, the process continues to step 310 where the step of transmitting the program content description is inhibited. From step 310 the process continues to step 312. If, in step 309, the determination is made that the program content privacy mode should not be used, the process continues to step 311.
  • step 311 a program content description describing the program content that has been played is transmitted. From step 311, the process continues to step 312. In step 312, an indication that the supplemental content has been played is transmitted.
  • the program content may be amended to include an indication that the supplemental content has been played.
  • the indication may identify the specific supplemental content that has been played, the number of times it has been played, and other circumstances relating to its having been played, such as the date and time when it was played.
  • An indication amended to program content may be retrieved from the program content later, for example, when the program content is redistributed via a peer-to-peer network.
  • step 313 a fee is charged to the supplemental content provider for the playing of the supplemental content.
  • Step 313 may comprise step 314.
  • step 314 a fee is charged to the supplemental content provider wherein the fee depends on the consumer information pertaining to the user for whom the supplemental content was played.
  • step 315 at least a portion of the fee is allocated to be used for the step of adjusting the balance of the account corresponding to the user.
  • step 316 a balance of an account corresponding to the user is caused to be adjusted.
  • Step 316 may comprise step 317.
  • step 317 the balance of the account is caused to be adjusted based on the consumer information. For example, the balance of the account may be adjusted in an amount dependent on the consumer information. From step 316, the process continues to step 318, where it ends.
  • aspects of at least one embodiment of the invention may comprise practicing method steps, such as one or more steps of the method depicted in Figures 3 A and 3B, at one or more consumer nodes, such as consumer nodes 109, 110, and 111, it is beneficial to provide a capability for continued auditing of integrity of consumer nodes. For example, if software is provided to a consumer node to enable the implementation of method steps, the software may be checked, preferably frequently, to provide assurance that the software has not been modified. As one example, a checksum value may be calculated to provide an indication of a likelihood that the software has not been modified.
  • the checksum may be calculated by a simple arithmetic operation, such as summing the values of the individual data words of which the software comprises, or the checksum may be calculated using a more involved operation, such as a message digest, for example, message digest 5 (MD5).
  • the method for calculating the checksum value is prescribed by a trusted entity, such as management node 102, each time such a calculation is to be performed, for example, as part of a challenge-and-response technique whereby the trusted entity issues a challenge to a consumer node, and the consumer node responds to the challenge.
  • a trusted entity such as management node 102
  • each time such a calculation is to be performed for example, as part of a challenge-and-response technique whereby the trusted entity issues a challenge to a consumer node, and the consumer node responds to the challenge.
  • the likelihood that a compromised consumer node could produce a response indicating integrity of that consumer node would be greatly reduced. For example, one among multiple
  • consumer nodes may be configured to frequently check for availability of updated software and/or any consumer nodes that have not already downloaded updated software may be prompted to do so whenever they access a trusted entity, such as management node 102, when such updated software has become available.
  • management node 102 may check for availability of updated software and prompt the consumer node to download the software.
  • FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C are a flow diagram illustrating a method in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.
  • consumer information pertaining to a user is obtained.
  • Step 401 may comprise step 402.
  • consumer information selected from a group consisting of an age, a gender, and a locale of the user are obtained.
  • the information selected from the group consisting of the age, the gender, and the locale of the user may comprise all of the age, the gender, and the locale of the user or a subset thereof.
  • Step 401 may optionally comprise step 426, in which a viewing history of the user is obtained.
  • consumer information criteria are received from the supplemental content provider.
  • Such consumer information criteria may, for example, comprise constraints identifying at least one of an age range, a gender, and a geographic region. Examples of geographic regions comprise continents or other broad world regions, countries, states or provinces, metropolitan areas, cities, and postal codes, such as zip codes.
  • a bid value is received from the supplemental content provider corresponding to the consumer information criteria. The bid value is based on an economic value, for example a monetary amount, the supplemental content provider agrees to be charged for the supplemental content to be played for a user whose consumer information complies with the consumer information criteria.
  • step 405 an indication is obtained that supplemental content is to be provided to the user.
  • Step 405 may comprise step 406.
  • the supplemental content is provided in response to cues occurring within program content played for the user.
  • the supplemental content provider is selected from a plurality of supplemental content providers based on the bid value being higher than bid values of others of the supplemental content providers.
  • step 408 supplemental content is selected for the user based on the consumer information.
  • Step 408 may comprise step 409.
  • step 409 the consumer information criteria are applied to select the supplemental content for the user from a larger quantity of available supplemental content.
  • the supplemental content is provided to be played for the user.
  • Step 410 may comprise step 411.
  • a plurality of instances of the supplemental content are queued.
  • at least one of the instances of the supplemental content is to be played in response to each of a plurality of cues occurring within program content played for the user.
  • the queuing of instances of the supplemental content occurs in advance of receiving a request for program content to be played in conjunction with the playing of the supplemental content.
  • step 412 a determination is made as to whether or not a enhanced privacy mode should be used. If so, the process continues to step 413, In step 413, the steps of receiving the indication that the supplemental content has been played and receiving the program content description are inhibited. From step 413, the process continues to step 425, where it ends.
  • step 412 If, in step 412, a determination is made that the enhanced privacy mode is not to be used, the process continues to step 414.
  • step 414 a determination is made as to whether or not a program content privacy mode should be used. If so, the process continues to step 415.
  • step 415 the step of receiving the program content description is inhibited. From step 415, the process continues to step 417.
  • step 414 If, in step 414, the determination is made that the program content privacy mode should not be used, the process continues to step 416.
  • step 416 a program content description is received describing program content that has been played. The program content and the supplemental content are played in temporal succession of each other.
  • step 417 an indication is received that the supplemental content has been played for the user.
  • step 418 the indication that the supplemental content has been played for the user is qualified based on and assessment of a likelihood that the supplemental content has been viewed by the user.
  • step 419 a fee is charged to a supplemental content provider for the playing of the supplemental content.
  • Step 419 may comprise step 420.
  • step 420 the fee is charged to the supplemental content provider wherein the fee depends on the consumer information pertaining to the user for whom the supplemental content was played.
  • step 421 at least a portion of the fee is allocated to be used for the step of adjusting the balance of the account corresponding to the user or, optionally, either in part or in whole, set aside for distribution among accounts of all users or a subset thereof based on criteria that may comprise market values for buying opportunities to display supplemental content at consumer nodes of such users, metrics for system use including content delivered to other consumer nodes, such as via a peer-to-peer network, viewing history, bandwidth allocated to users on apeer-to-peer network, etc.
  • a balance of an account corresponding to the user is caused to be adjusted based on the indication.
  • Step 422 may comprise steps 423 and/or step 424.
  • step 423 the balance of the account is caused to be adjusted as a function of a quantity of the supplemental content indicated by the indication.
  • step 424 the balance of the account is caused to be adjusted as a function of the consumer information. For example, the balance of the account may be adjusted in an amount dependent on the consumer information. From step 422, the process continues to step 425, where it ends.
  • Computer programs implementing a method in accordance with at least one embodiment of this invention will commonly be distributed to users on a distribution medium such as film, tape, disc, carrier wave, etc. From there, they will often be copied to a hard disk or a similar intermediate storage medium. When the programs are to be run, they will be loaded either from their distribution medium or their intermediate storage medium into the execution memory of the computer, configuring the computer to act in accordance with the method of this invention. Such operations are well-known to those skilled in the art of computer systems.
  • the term "computer-readable medium” encompasses distribution media, intermediate storage media, execution memory of a computer, and any other medium or device capable of storing for later reading by a computer a computer program implementing a method in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a program content file 501 in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.
  • Program content file 501 comprises a fixed portion 502 and, optionally, an additional portion 503.
  • Fixed portion 504 preferably comprises at least several features selected among the following: a header 504, one or more program content segments 505, 507, 509, and 511, one or more cues for supplemental content 506, 508, and 510, and trailer 512.
  • Additional portion 503 comprises viewing information pertaining to one or more users, for example, viewing information 513 for a first user, viewing information 514 for a second user, viewing information 515 for a third user, and viewing information 516 for a fourth user.
  • raw program content is received from one or more content provider nodes 103, 104, and 105.
  • Such raw program content may, for example, comprise program content segments 505, 507, 509, and 511 , in contiguous form, without other features illustrated in Figure 5.
  • program content administrative subsystem 201 may insert one or more cues for supplemental content, such as cues for supplemental content 506, 508, and 510. As illustrated, such cues may be distributed throughout the program content (e.g., among program content segments 505, 507, 509, and 51 1) or may be consolidated into fewer (e.g., one) locations within (or associated with) the program content file.
  • a header 504 may be implemented to comprise cues for supplemental content and/or other information, for example, a checksum value useful for verifying the content of the program content file.
  • a trailer 512 may be implemented to comprise cues for supplemental content and/or other information, for example, a checksum value useful for verifying the content of the program content file. Disbursing cues for supplemental content throughout program content may be useful for discouraging attempts to extract program content from the program content file without preserving cues for supplemental content. Alternatively, consolidating cues for supplemental content may be more advantageous if an ability for variation of the number of instances of supplemental content that are to be played for a particular program content file is desired.
  • Program content administrative subsystem 201 is also capable of encrypting the program content in a manner intended to prevent tampering with the cues.
  • an encrypted program content file may, by virtue of the encryption technique or other obfuscation technique, have a different file structure that may not be as clearly segmented as illustrated in Figure 5.
  • Additional information 503 may be added to the fixed portion 502 of program content file 501, for example, after the program content has been played for a user at a consumer node. For example, if consumer node 109 were to view program content segments 505, 507, 509, and 511 and supplemental content corresponding to cues 506, 508, and 510 for supplemental content, consumer node 109 may add viewing information 513 to the fixed portion 502 of program content file 501. Subsequently, for example, if consumer node 110 were to view program content segments 505, 507, 509, and 511 and supplemental content corresponding to cues 506, 508, and 510 for supplemental content, consumer node 110 may add viewing information 514.
  • consumer node 111 may add viewing information 515.
  • viewing information may be configured to prevent tracking of identity of consumer nodes viewing the program content, yet to allow verification of a number of times that the program content has been played. Additional information, such as numbers of times that the program content was played for a single (but optionally anonymous) consumer node and/or the time(s) and/or date(s) and/or day(s) on which the program content was played may be stored in the viewing information entries.
  • Information pertaining to supplemental content that has been played may be included with the program content, for example, by amending the program content.
  • Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a processing system that may be used to implement one or more nodes of a system in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.
  • the processing system of Figure 6 may be used to implement any one or more of management node 102, content provider nodes 103, 104, and/or 105, marketing nodes 106, 107, and/or 108, consumer nodes 109, 110, and/or 11 1 , external program content database 1 12, and/or royalty server 1 13.
  • the processing system of Figure 6 comprises central processing unit 601, memory 602, storage 603, input devices 604, display 605, network interface 606, and, optionally, network interface 607.
  • Central processing unit 601 of Figure 6 may be a microprocessor, microcomputer, microcontroller, digital signal processor, state machine, logic circuitry, and/or any device that manipulates digital information based on operational instructions.
  • the memory 602 and/or storage 603 may, be a single memory device or a plurality of memory devices. Such a memory device may be a read only memory, random access memory, floppy disk memory, magnetic tape memory, hard drive memory, system memory, CD-ROM, DVD memory, and/or any device that stores digital information.
  • Memory 602 and storage 603 may be memory structures that support read and write operations, such as random access memory, and/or memory structures that support read only operations, such as a read only memory, depending on the functionality to be provided. Note that when the central processing unit 601 implements one or more of its functions via a state machine or logic circuitry, the memory containing the corresponding operational instructions is embedded in the circuitry of the state machine and/or the logic circuitry.
  • Central processing unit 601 is coupled to memory 602, storage 603, input devices 604, display 605, network interface 606, and, optionally, network interface 607.
  • Input devices 604 may be used to provide input information, such as an operator input, which may comprise data and/or operational instructions, to control central processing unit 601.
  • Display may be used to provide a graphical user interface to observe aspects of the operation of central processing unit 601 , including the execution of operational instructions within central processing unit 601 to implement functionality of methods described herein.
  • Network interfaces 606 and 607 may be used to interface a node implemented in accordance with the processing system of Figure 6 with other nodes of a network.
  • network interfaces 606 and 607 may be used to interface a node, such as management node 102, with other nodes, such as consumer nodes 109, 1 10, and 1 1 1.
  • network interface 607 may be used to maintain segregation of interfaces to increase privacy and/or security of information being transmitted over the networks coupled to network interfaces 606 and/or 607.
  • network interface 606 may be used for communication with consumer nodes, such as consumer nodes 109, 110, and 11 1, while network interface 607 may be used for communication with royalty server 113, with restrictions placed on information communicated between royalty server 113 and management node 102 in order to increase the privacy of information provided to royalty server 113 by one or more consumer nodes, such as consumer nodes 109, 110, and 111.
  • other selective networking techniques such as establishing a virtual private network (VPN) between royalty server 113 and management node 102 may be used to provide segregation of data flows through a single network interface, such as network interface 606, without the need for an additional network interface, such as network interface 607.
  • VPN virtual private network
  • the memory 602 and/or storage 603 stores operational instructions that, when executed, allow the processing module to perform the functions required to provide functionality, such as functionality described as methods.
  • the functions that are performed based on the operational instructions stored in memory 602 and/or storage 603 are discussed in greater detail herein.
  • processing system of Figure 6 may implement some of the functions described herein through software stored in the memory 602 and/or storage 603, whereas other portions may be implemented using hardware or circuitry included within the processing system of Figure 6. Thus, in some embodiments a mix of hardware and software may be used to perform functionality to implement a method described herein.
  • an article of manufacture comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for causing a method as described herein to be performed.
  • means for performing functions such as those achieved in accordance with description provided herein, may be used.
  • FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a system in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.
  • marketing node 106 is coupled to marketing account 702 of management node 102
  • marketing node 107 is coupled to marketing account 703 of management node 102
  • marketing node 108 is coupled to marketing account 704 of management node 102
  • consumer node 109 is coupled to consumer account 705 of management node 102
  • consumer node 1 10 is coupled to consumer account 706 of management node 102
  • consumer node 1 1 1 is coupled to consumer account 707 of management node 102
  • consumer node 701 is coupled to consumer account 708 of management node 102.
  • Management node 102 comprises a supplemental content scheduling database 709.
  • Supplemental content scheduling database 709 provides scheduling of supplemental content for a plurality of users.
  • users are classified into consumer tiers, which are illustrated as being organized along consumer tier axis 711 of supplemental content scheduling database 709, and supplemental content is scheduled over time, as illustrated along the time axis 710 of supplemental content scheduling database 709.
  • Users may be classified into as many or as few tiers as desired, including each user being uniquely classified into a tier corresponding only to such user, thereby allowing all of the consumer information and viewing information pertaining to a specific user to be considered in the bidding for and scheduling of supplemental content to be viewed by that user.
  • classification of users into consumer tiers may be performed by management node 102, by input received from one or more marketing nodes, such as marketing nodes 106, 107, and 108, or by a combination of management node 102 and one or more marketing nodes.
  • management node 102 For each consumer tier of supplemental content scheduling database 709, management node 102 solicits bids for supplemental content to be presented to one or more users classified in that consumer tier any or all of several times from the present to the future. Management node 102 may impose reserve prices that require minimum bids. Such reserve prices may be related linearly or nonlinearly over time and may depend on the extent to which supplemental content viewing opportunities 712 have already been committed for the presentation of supplemental content.
  • management node 102 may determine reserve prices such that supplemental content viewing opportunities 712 farther into the future may have lower reserve prices due to their more speculative nature, while supplemental content viewing opportunities 712 nearer in time to the present have higher reserve prices to reflect their relative timeliness to the consumer information and viewing information obtained for the users to which those supplemental content viewing opportunities 712 correspond.
  • other factors such as the worthlessness of missed opportunities to present supplemental content when no bids of at least the reserve price have been received by the time that a supplemental content viewing opportunity arrives, may lead management node 102 to have lower reserve prices for supplemental content viewing opportunities 712 nearer in time to the present when such supplemental content viewing opportunities 712 have not already been committed.
  • management node 102 may refrain from setting reserve prices and may allow a marketplace based on the demands of marketing nodes for the supplies of supplemental content viewing opportunities among consumer tiers over time to establish equilibrium prices.
  • a bid may be received in any form that allows determination as to a price an entity, for example, a marketing node 106, 107, or 108, is willing to pay for a supplemental content viewing opportunity.
  • a bid may be submitted as numeric value of financial cost (e.g., a integral and/or decimal or fractional value of dollars and/or cents), a numeric value of financial cost coupled to a description of attributes of consumer information and/or viewing information, several numeric values of financial cost respectively coupled to descriptions of several attributes of consumer information and/or viewing information, a set of criteria for evaluation of consumer information and/or viewing information to determine a price, a numeric value of financial cost coupled to a description of a set of criteria for evaluation of consumer information and/or viewing information, wherein that set of criteria may be specified with the bid or may have been predefined.
  • numeric value of financial cost e.g., a integral and/or decimal or fractional value of dollars and/or cents
  • numeric value of financial cost coupled to a description
  • a predefined set of criteria may be provided by a marketing node, such as marketing node 106, 107, or 108, or another entity to a management node, such as management node 102, or by a management node, such as management node 102, to a marketing node, such as marketing node 106, 107, or 108, or to another entity.
  • a management node such as management node 102, may define a set of criteria that one or more marketing nodes, such as marketing nodes 106, 107, and/or 108, may find desirable, and sell supplemental content viewing opportunities based on such a set of criteria.
  • a management node may use such an approach to create "packages" of consumer nodes for which bids for supplemental content viewing opportunities are received.
  • a package of consumer nodes or supplemental content viewing opportunities for a group of consumer nodes may be defined based on a combination of consumer information and viewing information. Different packages may be defined for different groups of consumer nodes and/or supplemental content viewing opportunities for groups of consumer nodes.
  • Such packages can be useful, for example, to avoid forfeiting supplemental content viewing opportunities for consumer nodes for which supplemental content viewing opportunities are considered particularly desirable by marketing nodes.
  • a management node such as management node 102
  • a management node such as management node 102, could avoid forfeiting supplemental content viewing opportunities.
  • management node 102 may select the highest bid in determining the marketing node to which that supplemental content viewing opportunity will be committed, wherein that marketing node will be allowed to provide supplemental content to be viewed by the corresponding one or more users during that supplemental content viewing opportunity.
  • management node 102 may select a lesser bid under some circumstances. For example, management node 102 may apply a preference factor to bids in accordance with the volume of supplemental content viewing opportunities upon which a marketing node bids. For example, management node 102 may mark up bids from marketing nodes bidding on large numbers of supplemental content viewing opportunities and/or may mark down bids from marketing nodes bidding on small numbers of supplemental content viewing opportunities.
  • the marketing account corresponding to that marketing node may be charged for the bid either immediately or at some later time, such as when confirmation is received that the supplemental content has been played for the one or more users to which the supplemental content viewing opportunity corresponds.
  • management node 102 may refrain from charging the bid to the marketing account or may refund a previously charged bid to the marketing node in the event that the marketing node was previously charged for the bid.
  • the amount of the bid accepted for a supplement content viewing opportunity may be used to determine amounts by which one or more consumer accounts, such as consumer accounts 705, 706, 707, and 708, corresponding to one or more consumer nodes, such as consumer nodes 109, 1 10, 11 1 , and 701, corresponding to one or more users to which the supplemental content viewing opportunity pertains, may be adjusted.
  • one or more consumer accounts such as consumer accounts 705, 706, 707, and 708, corresponding to one or more consumer nodes, such as consumer nodes 109, 1 10, 11 1 , and 701, corresponding to one or more users to which the supplemental content viewing opportunity pertains, may be adjusted.
  • one or more of consumer accounts 705, 706, 707, and 708, may be adjusted for supplemental content played for one or more users as a function of the amount of the bid accepted for the supplemental content viewing opportunity corresponding to that supplemental content played for those one or more users and may optionally be adjusted as a function of any preference factor that may be applied in relation to such bid or, alternatively, may be adjusted based on the bid without the adjustment being a function of any preference factor.
  • Amounts by which one or more consumer accounts, such as consumer accounts 705, 706, 707, and 708, may be adjusted may be determined as a function of usage by users. Such usage may be determined, for example, as a function of quantities of supplemental content played for such users and/or a shared by such users. For example, amounts of supplemental content and/or program content received and/or transmitted by a consumer node may be considered. As another example, an amount of storage space provided by a consumer node for storage of supplemental content and/or program content may be considered, as well as data access rates at which supplemental content and/or program content may be communicated to and/or from a consumer node.
  • Amounts by which one or more consumer accounts may be adjusted may be based on an aggregate payout preferably in a fixed interval, which may be based, for example, on a percentage of revenue, wherein the aggregate payout is divided among consumer accounts based on criteria, such as those discussed above. Alternatively, a portion of such aggregate payout may be included, along with consideration of other factors, in determining amounts by which one or more consumer accounts may be adjusted.
  • a consumer account may be adjusted by an amount equal to a viewing coefficient multiplied by an amount of supplemental content displayed for a user plus a sharing coefficient multiplied by an amount of supplemental content shared with other consumer nodes plus a market price coefficient multiplied a market price payable for displaying supplemental content for a user plus a revenue coefficient multiplied by a percentage of revenue distributable among consumer accounts.
  • Such coefficients can be set to adjust incentives for user behavior in order to optimize operation of the system.
  • a bid for a supplemental content viewing opportunity for a user is accepted at a customer market price.
  • the customer market price is a function of a demographic value attributable to demographic information pertaining to the user and to a viewing history value attributable to a viewing history pertaining to the user.
  • the customer market price may be the sum of the demographic value and the viewing history value.
  • the highest bid value for supplemental content viewing opportunity may be deemed to be the customer market price for that user.
  • Subcomponents of that customer market price could be attributed to the user's age, the user's gender, the user's geographic location, the user's watching of the first instance of program content pertaining to the first topic, and the user's watching of the second instance of program content pertaining to the second topic, wherein the customer market price is a function (e.g.
  • FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a method in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.
  • the method begins in step 801, where consumer information pertaining to a user is obtained. Such consumer information preferably comprises demographic attributes to help establish consumer preferences of a user and/or an estimation of a user's consumer behavioral attributes.
  • viewing information pertaining to a user is obtained. Such viewing information preferably comprises types and quantities of program content displayed for viewing by a user.
  • bids for opportunities to display supplemental content for a user are received. Such bids may comprise one or more bids from one or more marketing nodes for one or more supplemental content viewing opportunities for a user.
  • Step 803 may comprise step 804.
  • the bids for opportunities to display supplemental content for a user comprise temporal information. Such temporal information may comprise a level of temporal resolution as to when supplemental content viewing opportunities may occur.
  • supplemental content viewing opportunities may be accepted. Such bids may be accepted as being the highest bids received for supplemental content viewing opportunities. Alternatively, other considerations, such as a quantity of supplemental content viewing opportunities that are being bid upon or have been bid upon in the past may be evaluated to determine which bids are to be accepted.
  • supplemental content is delivered for viewing by a user. Such supplemental content is delivered in accordance to one or more supplemental content viewing opportunities for which bids have been accepted.
  • FIGS 9A and 9B are a flow diagram illustrating a method in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.
  • consumer information criteria is specified.
  • Such consumer information criteria preferably comprises an age, a gender, a locale, and a viewing history.
  • Such consumer information criteria may be specified, for example, by a supplemental content provider seeking to provide supplemental content to selected consumer nodes.
  • a consumer information database is searched for consumer nodes associated with users having consumer information matching the consumer information criteria, as specified in step 901. The searching is done to identify consumer nodes for which the consumer information satisfies the consumer information criteria.
  • pricing information is determined in step 903 for those selected consumer nodes based on current bid values for particular consumer nodes. In absence of sufficient current bid values, a management node may establish values in lieu of current bid values.
  • viewing opportunities for presenting supplemental content to be played at selected consumer nodes are purchased according to the pricing information. Such purchases preferably occur based on current bid values or values established in lieu thereof, as described above.
  • step 905 supplemental content is distributed to the selected consumer nodes.
  • program content may be distributed to consumer nodes to be viewed in temporal succession with the supplemental content.
  • the distributing of the supplemental content to the consumer nodes occurs prior to the distributing the program content to the consumer nodes.
  • step 906 the supplemental content is stored locally at the consumer nodes and queued to be presented for viewing.
  • step 906 is performed in advance of the distributing the program content to the consumer nodes.
  • consumer nodes can issue consumer node cues for distributiqn of additional supplemental content, which can be helpful to prevent queue underflow of the supplemental content at the consumer nodes.
  • additional supplemental content can be distributed to consumer nodes.
  • the supplemental content is presented for viewing at the consumer node.
  • the supplemental content is played when it reaches the end of the queue of supplemental content to be played and the program content being played indicates a cue that calls for supplemental content to be played.
  • step 908 a determination is made as to whether or not any privacy modes are enabled. If so, the communication of data back to the management node is inhibited in step 909. If not, data, for example, a confirmation, indicating the playing of the supplemental content is communicated back to the management node in step 910, and the management node provides a receipt to the supplemental content provider in step 91 1.
  • FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating a method in accordance with at least one embodiment of the present invention.
  • a consumer node initiates interaction with a management node.
  • the consumer node creates an account, accepts a copyright agreement, and provide consumer information.
  • the consumer information preferably comprises a gender of a user, a locale of the user, and age information for the user, which preferably comprises an age or age range.
  • a supplemental content queue is created at the consumer node.
  • the consumer node specifies program content to be displayed for viewing.
  • the consumer node receives the program content.
  • the consumer node preferably either displays the program content for viewing as it is received or stores the program content for later display.
  • step 1005 the consumer node selects program content for viewing from among the received program content.
  • the consumer node begins display of the program content for viewing.
  • the program content provides cues for supplemental content to be displayed.
  • the consumer node preferably either displays supplemental content already received or receives supplemental content in response to the cues and displays it.
  • the display of the supplemental content facilitates display of subsequently occurring program content.
  • the supplemental content may include information to facilitate decryption of subsequently occurring program content.
  • step 1007 the consumer node applies privacy mode settings. For example, if a privacy mode is selected, privacy of the consumer node is protected, for example, by inhibiting step 1008. However, if a privacy mode is not selected, the method continues at step 1008.
  • step 1008 the consumer node transmits to the management node a confirmation that the program content was displayed for viewing and a confirmation that the supplemental content was displayed for viewing. Information reflecting such confirmations is preferably recorded in a consumer information database and in a royalty database.
  • the confirmation that the program content was displayed, the confirmation that the supplemental content was displayed, or both can be inhibited.
  • step 301 consumer information pertaining to different users may be obtained, and, in step 304, supplemental content may be obtained for the different consumer nodes of the different users according to their respective different consumer information.
  • step 304 supplemental content may be obtained for the different consumer nodes of the different users according to their respective different consumer information.
  • the values pertaining to consumer nodes and users, such as the bid values to be paid for supplemental content viewing opportunities for consumer nodes of users may be determined on an individualized basis.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Databases & Information Systems (AREA)
  • Social Psychology (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Computer Graphics (AREA)
  • Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
  • Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
  • Marketing (AREA)
  • Two-Way Televisions, Distribution Of Moving Picture Or The Like (AREA)
  • Management, Administration, Business Operations System, And Electronic Commerce (AREA)

Abstract

Au moins selon une variante, l'invention concerne un procédé et un dispositif pour la distribution de contenu média, lequel comprend un contenu de programme destiné à être restitué pour un utilisateur. Le contenu de programme est fourni dans des conditions qui débouchent sur la restitution du contenu de programme et de contenu supplémentaire successivement dans le temps. Un mécanisme permet d'inhiber la restitution de l'autre partie du contenu de programme durant la troisième période de temps, jusqu'à la fin de la restitution du contenu supplémentaire durant la deuxième période de temps. Le contenu supplémentaire pour l'utilisateur est sélectionné sur la base d'information utilisateur propre à l'utilisateur, du type information démographique. Plusieurs fournisseurs de contenu supplémentaire peuvent demander des opportunités de visualisation de contenu supplémentaire pour des utilisateurs individuels sur la base d'information utilisateur qui est propre à ces utilisateurs, ce qui crée un marché de temps de visualisation relatif à des utilisateurs individuels.
PCT/US2006/027810 2005-07-20 2006-07-17 Procede et dispositif pour distribution de contenu media WO2007015845A2 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US18520805A 2005-07-20 2005-07-20
US11/185,208 2005-07-20

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2007015845A2 true WO2007015845A2 (fr) 2007-02-08
WO2007015845A3 WO2007015845A3 (fr) 2007-04-05

Family

ID=37709057

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US2006/027810 WO2007015845A2 (fr) 2005-07-20 2006-07-17 Procede et dispositif pour distribution de contenu media

Country Status (1)

Country Link
WO (1) WO2007015845A2 (fr)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2009002378A2 (fr) * 2007-06-22 2008-12-31 Schwartz Richard T Système et procédé pour fournir une programmation audiovisuelle avec un contenu alternatif
CN104394382A (zh) * 2014-12-09 2015-03-04 浙江省公众信息产业有限公司 视频监控录像的存储方法、设备和系统

Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20020035526A1 (en) * 2000-09-01 2002-03-21 Ken Kutaragi Method and system for managing fees of contents, computer program and recording medium
US20030110213A1 (en) * 2001-12-07 2003-06-12 Toshihiko Munetsugu Media contents distribution system and method
US20040244031A1 (en) * 2003-02-26 2004-12-02 Peter Martinez System and method for a network of interactive televisions
US20050074100A1 (en) * 2002-05-08 2005-04-07 Lederman Matthew A. Method and apparatus for media distribution system
US20050119936A1 (en) * 2003-12-02 2005-06-02 Robert Buchanan Sponsored media content

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20020035526A1 (en) * 2000-09-01 2002-03-21 Ken Kutaragi Method and system for managing fees of contents, computer program and recording medium
US20030110213A1 (en) * 2001-12-07 2003-06-12 Toshihiko Munetsugu Media contents distribution system and method
US20050074100A1 (en) * 2002-05-08 2005-04-07 Lederman Matthew A. Method and apparatus for media distribution system
US20040244031A1 (en) * 2003-02-26 2004-12-02 Peter Martinez System and method for a network of interactive televisions
US20050119936A1 (en) * 2003-12-02 2005-06-02 Robert Buchanan Sponsored media content

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2009002378A2 (fr) * 2007-06-22 2008-12-31 Schwartz Richard T Système et procédé pour fournir une programmation audiovisuelle avec un contenu alternatif
WO2009002378A3 (fr) * 2007-06-22 2010-03-11 Schwartz Richard T Système et procédé pour fournir une programmation audiovisuelle avec un contenu alternatif
GB2461677B (en) * 2007-06-22 2012-09-05 Richard T Schwartz System and method for providing audio-visual programming with alternative content
CN104394382A (zh) * 2014-12-09 2015-03-04 浙江省公众信息产业有限公司 视频监控录像的存储方法、设备和系统

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2007015845A3 (fr) 2007-04-05

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
KR101870379B1 (ko) 사용자 연관 데이터에 대한 접근 제어
US8955006B2 (en) Entertainment content purchase via advertising viewing credit
US6947897B2 (en) System and method for managing consumer information
JP7412797B2 (ja) ビデオストリーミング再生システム及び方法
US20080228578A1 (en) Digital rights management and data license management
US20130111519A1 (en) Exchange Value Engine
US20050203849A1 (en) Multimedia distribution system and method
US20080215437A1 (en) System, apparatus and method for advertising using a data storage device
US20080215468A1 (en) Software Licensing Method And System
US20050119936A1 (en) Sponsored media content
US20020123956A1 (en) Method and system for creating and verifying derivative contract terms using party relationships
US20090192929A1 (en) Systems and Methods for Distributing Electronic Media
KR20080098019A (ko) 광고 발행자의 성능을 정확하게 추정하고 클릭 사기를억제하는 컴퓨터 구현 시스템 및 방법
US20200058019A1 (en) Viewer data access management
CA2688479A1 (fr) Partage de revenu flexible et systeme de prime d'indication
JP4788245B2 (ja) 広告ポイント預託方法、および広告ポイント預託システム
US20120059716A1 (en) Pricing Models for User-Related Data
WO2007015845A2 (fr) Procede et dispositif pour distribution de contenu media
KR20070107876A (ko) 특정 사이트에 종속적이지 않은 ｄｒｍ이 적용된 디지털콘텐츠 유통 시스템 및 방법
US20120054025A1 (en) Pricing Models for User-Related Data
KR20190135881A (ko) O4O(Offline for Online) 부스팅용 다차원 코드를 이용하여 모바일 광고 콘텐츠 및 모바일 광고 콘텐츠의 열람에 대한 보상을 제공하는 방법 및 이를 이용한 서버
US20030033322A1 (en) Content item management
US20130347082A1 (en) Unit-of-Use Control of a Computing Resource
KR20110084163A (ko) 장소 식별 및 예약
Bansal et al. The Case for Variable Pricing of IDM

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
121 Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application
NENP Non-entry into the national phase

Ref country code: DE

122 Ep: pct application non-entry in european phase

Ref document number: 06774665

Country of ref document: EP

Kind code of ref document: A2