WO2009138442A2

WO2009138442A2 - Method and apparatus for displaying visual content

Info

Publication number: WO2009138442A2
Application number: PCT/EP2009/055807
Authority: WO
Inventors: Andreas Maier; Sebastian Schmitt; Martin Szugat
Original assignee: Snipclip Gbr
Priority date: 2008-05-16
Filing date: 2009-05-14
Publication date: 2009-11-19
Also published as: GB2460085A; GB0808941D0; WO2009138442A3

Abstract

In a first aspect the application relates to a method and an apparatus for preparing a digital media compound for transmission to a remote user site, the digital media com- pound being certification class indicative upon user-interaction. The method comprises: determining an identifier of the digital media compound; retrieving a media item corre- sponding to the identifier; querying a certification database with the identifier and re- trieving associated certification class information from the certification database; gener- ating a dynamic, user-interactive graphical element, the type of the graphical element depending on the associated certification class information; combining the media item and the graphical element to form the digital media compound. Upon display of the compound the remote user can verify the legitimacy of the media item by means of the interactive graphical element.

Description

Description Title: Method and Apparatus for Displaying Visual Content

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The invention relates to the field of online platforms for supporting collections of media items, and more specifically to methods and apparatuses for, inter alia, ensuring appreciation of intellectual property rights that may be attached to the media items.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Collecting items is a popular pastime for a lot of people. Stamps, baseball cards, records, and even cars (for those who can afford it) are well known examples of the items that people collect. These items are called collectibles. Sometimes collectibles are produced and distributed in relation to certain products or events, such as a Euro- pean football championship. In the case of football championships some companies have specialised on obtaining the rights to distribute photos of the players in the form of trading cards or stickers that can be glued into special albums. These collectibles are physical objects that can be distributed and traded in a traditional manner.

[0003] Trading cards are sometimes distributed by selling sealed packages containing e.g. five trading cards. Another alternative is to distribute them as a package insert with other products, such as breakfast cereals. The purpose is to randomise the distribution process so that people cannot specifically buy the collectibles that they are still missing for completing their collection. A complete collection usually has a higher value than the sum of the values of the single collectibles. This reflects the effort, dedication, and luck of the particular collector.

[0004] The patent application US 2007/0256124 Al describes a collectible token management including creating a visual representation of a token, associating a data structure and data with the token, and transmitting at least a portion of the data to a receiver in response to a user input with the token. The token is a virtual (i.e. online, non- physical, but programmed or system-computed) object that includes a container for stor- ing references to data structures and data and a key that can be used to access various outside resources related to the token. The token may include a visual representation of that indicates the subject matter of the contents of the token. The token is owned by an owner who may have an account with a system that manages the tokens. US 2007/0256124 Al does not address the topic of intellectual property rights held by the suppliers of the contents.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The inventors believe that audio clips, movie clips, and other rich media or interactive media types like three dimensional models or computer games might become popular collectibles in the future. Such movie clips are usually provided in a compressed digital format and stored as a file on a data medium. If the data medium is connected to a communication network such as the Internet, exchanging the clips with others is very simple from a technical point of view. While exchanging such clips via the Internet does not cause a legal problem with audio clips and movie clips that are in the public domain, it is a major concern for clips that have intellectual property rights attached to them. This is the case for most artistic performances and sports events.

[0006] Intellectual property right holders attempt to solve these problems by using copy protection mechanisms and by filing lawsuits against individuals who have stored unofficial copies of movie clips on their computers. These measures appear to show an increasing effect but are still far from being able to guarantee satisfactory observance of intellectual property rights.

[0007] The simple and often unsanctioned reproduction of digital media also circumvents that digital movie clips might be regarded as true collectibles. A true collectible stands out due to its limited and exclusive availability. As long as digital movie clips (and similar items) are more or less freely reproducible by unauthorised persons, movie clips are unlikely to become valuable collectibles. This impedes the formation of a community of collectors in which a particular item has a certain value and is subject to trading among the collectors. [0008] It would be desirable to establish a new sales channel for digital media content by making the copies of this content unique and limited.

[0009] It would be desirable to provide an indication of an official certification of a digital media item with respect to observance of intellectual property rights. It would be further desirable that this indication be difficult to recreate and thus difficult to forge.

To better address one of more of these concerns, in a first aspect of the invention a method for preparing a digital media compound for transmission to a remote user site is proposed. The digital media compound is certification class indicative upon user- interaction. The method comprises:

- determining an identifier of the digital media compound;

- retrieving a media item corresponding to the identifier;

- querying a certification database with the identifier and retrieving associated certification class information from the certification database; - generating a dynamic, user- interactive graphical element, the type of the graphical element depending on the associated certification class information; and

- combining the media item and the graphical element to form the digital media compound.

[0010] The concerns mentioned above may also be addressed by an arrangement for handling a digital media compound. Again, the digital medial compound is certification class indicative upon user-interaction. The arrangement comprises a media item storage arranged to store and provide the media item, a certification database, a graphical element generator arranged to generate a graphical element, the type of the gener- ated graphical element depending on the associated certification class information, and a combiner that is arranged to combine the media item and the graphical element to form the digital media compound.

[0011] The arrangement for handling a digital media compound may be divided into a part at an origin of the digital media item and part at the destination of the digital media item. For example, the media item storage and the certification database may be associated with the origin of the digital media item. The graphical element generator and the combiner may be associated with the destination of the digital media item. The graphical element generator and the combiner may be situated at the destination of the digital media item. For example, the graphical element generator and the combiner could be situated on a user's computer or a user's device as a client software (viewer). The client software may be supplied by the platform provider or a third party. The client software may then create and combine the digital media compound using the information transmitted from the media item storage and/or the certification database.

[0012] The media item can be regarded as the payload of the digital media com- pound. It may also be a thumbnail related to and linked to the payload. The media item

(or the related payload) may or may not have any intellectual property rights (or equivalents) attached to it. However, an ordinary consumer usually cannot know about the existence, the nature, and the owner of any intellectual property rights. This is particularly important for a consumer who is interested in acquiring a certain media item (e.g. a movie clip of a famous football goal). If the consumer buys a fraudulent copy, he may have to destroy that copy, pay a fine, or face other sanctions. The method described above assists the consumer by providing a reliable indication as to whether there are any intellectual property rights attached to a particular copy (the copy being identified by means of the identifier) of a media item, and if so, whether this particular copy is certi- fϊed as being an authentic copy. This indication is achieved by combining the media item with a graphical element. The user-interactivity of the graphical element is difficult, if not impossible, to reproduce. Upon display of the compound, the remote user can verify the legitimacy of the media item by means of the interactive graphical element.

[0013] Further optional features of the method form the subject matter of some of the dependent claims.

[0014] In a related aspect of the invention a computer program product is part of this application. The computer program product has instructions stored thereon that enable a processor to carry out the method according to the method described above. [0015] In another related aspect of the invention, an apparatus for displaying the digital media compound prepared according to method described above is part of this application. The apparatus comprises a graphical display and a graphics card for producing a media item of the digital media compound on the graphical display.

[0016] In another related aspect of the invention, an apparatus for preparing a digital media compound for transmission to a remote user site is part of this application. The digital media compound is certification class indicative upon user-interaction. The apparatus comprises: - a media item storage arranged to store and provide a media item,

- a certification database,

- a graphical element generator arranged to generate a graphical element, the type of the generated graphical element depending on the associated certification class information, - a combiner that is arranged to combine the media item and the graphical element to form the digital media compound.

[0017] It would be desirable to provide a possibility for a user to verify whether he interacts with the original representation of an asset and not a fake representation. To better address this concern, in a further aspect of the invention a method for preparing a digital media compound for transmission to a remote user site is proposed. The method comprises:

- retrieving a media item;

- generating a user-interactive verification element; - combining the verification element to form the digital media compound;

[0018] wherein the verification element comprises an instruction for redirecting a third user to a website upon a certain interaction of the third user with the verification element when displayed at the remote user site, the uniform resource locator of said website comprising the domain name of the platform provider. [0019] In a related aspect of the invention, a digital media compound is proposed. The digital media compound is intended to be transmitted to a remote user site and displayed and/or processed there. The digital media compound comprises:

- a media item; - a user- interactive verification element that comprises an instruction for redirecting a third user to a website upon a certain interaction of the third user with the verification element when displayed at the remote user site, the uniform resource locator of said website comprising the domain name of the platform provider.

[0020] In another related aspect of the invention, an apparatus for preparing a digital media compound for transmission to a remote user site is part of this application. The apparatus comprises:

- a media item storage (IMG STG) arranged to store and provide a media item;

- a verification element generator (GEN) arranged to generate a user-interactive verification element,

- a combiner (CMB) that is arranged to combine the media item and the verification element to form the digital media compound; wherein the verification element comprises an instruction for redirecting a third user to a website upon a certain interaction of the third user with the verification element when displayed at the remote user site, the uniform resource locator of said website comprising the domain name of the platform provider.

[0021] In addition or in the alternative to the preceding text passages, it would be desirable to make auctions for articles more exciting for a potential buyer. It would also be desirable that a set of similar articles (e.g. several collectible articles that are part of a same series) be distributed in a hardly foreseeable manner so that the distribution of the articles among the buyers is more or less inhomogeneous. To better address one or more of these concerns, a method for performing an online auction is proposed, the method comprises: a) receiving information relative to a plurality of articles to be auctioned from a seller; b) scheduling a plurality of auction times and preceding announcement times for a plurality of online auctions; c) randomly selecting an article to be auctioned from said plurality of articles; d) publishing, at one of the plurality of announcement times, an announcement rela- tive to an auction of the article to be auctioned, the auction to be held at a scheduled auction time a predetermined time after the announcement time; and e) starting the online auction at the scheduled auction time.

[0022] Further optional features of the method form the subject matter of some of the dependent claims.

[0023] In a related aspect of the invention a computer program product is part of this application. The computer program product has instructions stored thereon that enable a processor to carry out the method according to the method described above.

[0024] In another related aspect of the invention an apparatus for displaying information relative to an auction performed according to the method described above is part of this application. The apparatus comprises a graphical display and a graphics card.

[0025] In another related aspect of the invention an apparatus for performing an online auction is part of the application. The apparatus comprises:

- a seller interface for receiving information relating to an article to be auctioned;

- a scheduler for scheduling a plurality of auction times and preceding announcement times for a plurality of online auctions; - a selector for randomly selecting an article to be auctioned from said plurality of articles;

- an announcement publisher for publishing, at one of the plurality of announcement times, an announcement for an online auction of the article to be auctioned, the auction to be held at a scheduled auction time a predetermined time after the announcement time ;

- an auctioneer for starting the online auction at the scheduled auction time. [0026] In addition or in the alternative to the preceding text passages, it would be desirable to provide consumers, in particular collectors, with the ability to individualise and personalise the digital catalogue item that they have purchased.

[0027] To better address one or more of these concerns, a method for individualizing digital catalogue items is proposed. The method comprises:

- receiving a master of a digital catalogue item from a content supplier;

- creating an individual reference to the master;

- receiving a digital object or information and a corresponding command to link the digital object or information to the individual reference;

- storing the digital object or information; and

- adding a reference relative to the digital object or information to the individual reference.

[0028] The actions involving the individual reference may be performed by controlling a database.

[0029] The method may further comprise transferring ownership of the individual reference and the digital object linked thereto from the consumer to another consumer by deactivating an ownership entry of the consumer and adding a new ownership entry for the other consumer. "Deleting" the ownership would also be a form of deactivating the ownership entry.

[0030] The method may still further comprise: - receiving, from a third user, a request for displaying a representation to the individual reference;

- transmitting to the third user the representation to the individual reference along with a further reference to each digital object or information that is linked to the individual reference; - performing a predetermined action when the third user interacts with the individual reference or with the further reference to the one of the digital objects. [0031] The action may be downloading the individual copy/digital object, play (=stream) a corresponding movie etc.

[0032] In a related aspect of the invention a computer program product is part of this application. The computer program product has instructions stored thereon that enable a processor to carry out the method according to the method described above.

[0033] In another related aspect of the invention an apparatus for displaying a digital catalogue item prepared according to the method as described above is part of this application. The apparatus comprises a graphical display and a graphics card for producing an image of the digital catalogue item and the digital object or information linked thereto.

[0034] In another related aspect of the invention an apparatus for individualizing digital catalogue items is part of this application. The apparatus comprises:

- a content supplier interface for receiving a master of a digital catalogue item from a content supplier;

- a reference creator adapted to create an individual reference to the master;

- a consumer interface adapted to receive from a consumer a command to link a digital object or information to the individual reference;

- a storage for the digital object or information;

- a reference adder that adds a further reference relative to the digital object or information to the individual reference.

[0035] In addition or in the alternative to the preceding text passages, it would be desirable to facilitate selection and placement of advertisements on advertising spaces. It would also be desirable to establish a fair remuneration system along with the selection and placement of advertisements.

[0036] To better address one or more of these concerns, a method for brokering online advertisements between an advertisement content supplier and an advertising space owner who owns online advertising space is proposed. The method comprises: - the advertisement content supplier offering the advertisement at an online marketplace platform;

- the marketplace platform referencing the advertisement;

- the advertising space owner selecting the advertisement; - the marketplace platform registering the selection of the advertisement by the advertising space owner; and

- the advertising space owner placing the advertisement on the online advertising space for presentation to visitors of the online advertising space.

[0037] The marketplace platform may add software code to the advertisement in connection with referencing the advertisement and/or registering the selection of the advertisement. The software code may be arranged to measure interaction of third users with the advertisement and to transmit corresponding interaction frequency information to the marketplace platform. Such information is usually transmitted in an anonymous manner because it only serves statistical purposes. The only pieces of information that are needed are an identifier of the advertisement (in order to determine the advertisement supplier to be charged) and the advertising space owner (in order to credit his account).

[0038] Further optional features of the method form the subject matter of some of the dependent claims.

[0039] In a related aspect of the invention a computer program product is part of this application. The computer program product has instructions stored thereon that en- able a processor to carry out the method according to the method described above.

[0040] In another related aspect of the invention an apparatus for displaying the online advertisement brokered according to the method described above is part of this application. The apparatus comprises a graphical display and a graphics card for pro- ducing an image of the online advertisement on the graphical display. [0041] In addition or in the alternative to the preceding text passages, it would be desirable to prevent abusive usage of a platform, in particular a collectors' platform. Such abusive usage could consist in e.g. uploading objects that link to external Internet addresses, thereby exploiting the platform's fame and reputation for the profit of third persons. It would also be desirable to prevent any object stored and display on the platform to link to illegal or undesired content outside of the platform.

[0042] To better address one or more of these concerns, a method for preparing a user-interactive digital media compound for transmission from a provider site to a re- mote user site is proposed. The method comprises:

- obtaining a media item to be displayed at the remote user site and defining a user- interaction area when displayed at the remote user site;

- determining a provider-authorized activity associated with the media item and to be performed upon user- interaction with the media item; - associating the provider-authorized activity to a second item; and

- overlaying the second item over the media item to create a stacked item so that any user- interaction with the stacked item is intercepted by the second item.

[0043] Further optional features of the method form the subject matter of some of the dependent claims. The activity may comprise communicating a user-interaction to the provider site. Not necessarily all kinds of user- interaction need to be communicated but only certain kinds of user interaction. For example, it may not be useful to communicate each hovering of a mouse pointer over the image to the provider. However, certain user-interaction may be communicated to the provider (e.g. when the user clicks on the item or tries to save it to his computer) so that interactions can be counted by the provider.

[0044] In a related aspect of the invention a computer program product is part of this application. The computer program product has instructions stored thereon that en- able a processor to carry out the method according to the method described above. [0045] In another related aspect of the invention an apparatus for displaying the digital media compound prepared according to the above described method is part of this application.

[0046] In another related aspect of the invention an apparatus for preparing a user- interactive digital media compound for transmission to a remote user site is part of this application. The apparatus comprises:

- a media item storage arranged to store and provide a media item;

- a repository for provider-authorized activities, one of the activities being assigned to the media item and to be performed upon user- interaction with the media item;

- an associator arranged to associate the one of the activities with a second item; and

- an overlayer arranged to overlay the second item over the media item to create a stacked item so that any user- interaction with the stacked item is intercepted by the sec- ond item.

[0047] In addition or in the alternative to the preceding text passages, it would be desirable to provide a comprehensive online platform concept, in particular a platform directed to collectors of digital media assets.

[0048] To better address one or more of these concerns, a method for supporting online collections of digitally storable collectibles is proposed. The method comprises:

- receiving a master collectible from a collectibles supplier;

- duplicating a plurality of representations of the master collectible, the ownership of each ones of the plurality representations being separately transferable;

- performing a transaction or a randomly scheduled auction for an obtainable representation selected from one of the duplicated plurality of representations;

- determining the transaction receiver or a winning bidder of the randomly scheduled auction; - transferring the ownership of the obtainable representation to the transaction receiver or the winning bidder, the obtainable representation thereby becoming an attributed representation; and - inserting the attributed representation in a collection of the transaction receiver or the winning bidder.

[0049] Further optional features of the method form the subject matter of some of the dependent claims.

[0050] In a related aspect of the invention a computer program product is part of this application. The computer program product has instructions stored thereon that enable a processor to carry out the method according to the method described above.

[0051] In another related aspect of the invention an apparatus for displaying the attributed representation prepared according to the method described above is part of this application.

[0052] In another related aspect of the invention an apparatus for supporting online collections of digitally storable collectibles is part of this application. The apparatus comprises:

- a collectibles supplier interface adapted to receive a master collectible from a collectibles supplier; - a duplicator adapted to duplicate a plurality of representations of the master collectible, the ownership of each representation being separately transferable;

- a transaction manager or an auctioneer adapted to perform transactions or randomly scheduled auctions, respectively, for an obtainable representation selected from the duplicated plurality of representations, to determine transaction receiver or a win- ning bidder of the randomly scheduled auction, respectively, and to change a status of the obtainable representation to attributed representation;

- an ownership directory adapted to track changes of the ownership of the attributed representation; and

- a collection administrator adapted to manage a collection of the transaction re- ceiver or the winning bidder and to insert the attributed representation in the collection of the transaction receiver or the winning bidder. [0053] These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0054] Fig. 1 shows the schematic architecture of an apparatus and its environment for supporting online collections of digitally storable collectibles.

[0055] Fig. 2 shows a state diagram for a collectible.

[0056] Fig. 3 shows a state diagram for a piece of content-related information.

[0057] Fig. 4 shows a schematic diagram of the apparatus for supporting online collections, including the relations and communications among its components.

[0058] Fig. 5 shows the schematic architecture of an apparatus and its environment for preparing a classification-indicative digital media compound.

[0059] Fig 6 shows the schematic architecture of the apparatus for preparing a classification-indicative digital media compound in a more detailed illustration.

[0060] Fig. 7 shows a flow chart of a method for preparing a classification- indicative digital media compound.

[0061] Fig. 8 shows a screenshot of a display at the remote user site when the re- mote user interacts with a transmitted digital media compound.

[0062] Fig. 9 shows a screenshot of a display at the remote user site when the remote user does not interact (anymore) with the transmitted digital media compound.

[0063] Fig. 10 shows the schematic architecture of an apparatus and its environment for performing online auctions of a set of objects/collectibles. [0064] Fig. 11 shows a flow chart of a method for performing an online auction.

[0065] Fig. 12 shows a time diagram of various events related to an online auction.

[0066] Fig. 13 shows a schematic diagram of the apparatus for performing online auctions, including internal details of the apparatus and their relations and communications.

[0067] Fig. 14 shows the schematic architecture of an apparatus and its environ- ment for individualizing digital catalogue items.

[0068] Fig. 15 shows a flow chart of a method for individualizing digital catalogue items.

[0069] Fig. 16 shows a schematic diagram of the apparatus for individualizing digital catalogue items, including internal details of the apparatus and their relations and communications .

[0070] Fig. 17 shows the relationships of various data structures.

[0071] Fig. 18 shows the schematic architecture of an apparatus and its environment for brokering online advertisements.

[0072] Fig. 19 shows a schematic diagram of the apparatus for brokering online ad- vertisements, including internal details of the apparatus and their relations and communications.

[0073] Fig. 20 shows a flow chart of a method for brokering online advertisements.

[0074] Fig. 21 shows the schematic architecture of an apparatus and its environment for preparing a user-interactive digital media compound. [0075] Fig. 22 shows a flow chart of a method for preparing a user- interactive digital media compound.

[0076] Fig. 23 shows a schematic diagram of the apparatus for preparing a user- interactive digital media compound, including internal details of the apparatus and their relations and communications.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0077] The following section describes possible embodiments of a method for sup- porting online collections of digitally storable collectibles. It also describes embodiments of corresponding apparatuses.

[0078] One of the purposes of a method and an apparatus for supporting online collections of digitally storable collectibles is the establishment of a new sales channel for digital media content by making the copies of this content unique and limited and offering them in terms of collections in an entertaining way via random auctions. Consumers can make money by placing advertising content in their profiles / collections which they can choose from an advertising marketplace. Different classes of content are distinguished via dynamic certification which results in an upload protection for certified commercial content. AU content being displayed is protected from unintended use.

[0079] The principal stakeholders can be seen in Fig. 1 :

• "Platform provider": in this case the inventors, but may be any other provider of a similar online platform as well • "Producer": owner of licenses for digital media content; may be producers, distributors, resellers ...

"Consumer": person who visits our platform in order to consume, buy, resell or trade digital collectibles

• "Advertising provider": owner of advertising content; may be a marketing agency, a company, a (n online) shop ...

• "Third user": person who interacts with the advertising content on one of the consumers web page [0080] These stakeholders are usually connected by means of the Internet or a similar communication network. The consumer may access the Internet via a stationary computer, a portable computer or a cellular phone.

[0081] In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1, the platform provider maintains five distinct servers: a web server, a file server for commercial content, a file server for advertising content, a file server for user generated content, and a database server for references. The three file servers and the database server are connected to the web server, which in turn is connected to the Internet. Other topologies are also possible.

[0082] Procedure from the producers / consumers point of view:

• The producer uploads to the platform a file containing digital media content (also called "digital media asset"), for which he owns the intellectual property rights • The platform generates unique copies of that file and sells them as digital collectibles via random auctions to consumers

• The producer gets the price for the sold collectible, the platform provider retains a fee

• The consumers can attach digital files / information (= user generated content) to each unique object, which results in the creation of "life stories" for those objects

• The consumer can resell his collectibles on a marketplace offered by the platform provider. The provider retains a fee which he shares with the producer

• Advertising providers can offer on the same marketplace their advertising content to consumers • They specify how much the consumers get paid, if they present this content on their profile / collection pages and third users interact with the advertising content

• The consumers presenting such an advertising content get paid for defined interactions, third users make with the advertising content

The Advertising provider may specify a budget for each advertising content offer. If that budget is reached, the content is deactivated • In order to distinguish different kinds of content (commercial, user generated, advertising ...), each content representation gets a dynamic certificate which changes its appearance upon interaction

[0083] Procedure from the technical point of view:

Producers, advertising providers and consumers upload their content files to the web server of the platform provider, which may store the uploaded content files for security reasons on different file servers and may reference them in a database. The platform can create copies by creating new entries in the database with a new unique identi- fication attribute. Changes to a content file are stored in the database. If necessary the attached new content file is stored on the file server. Whenever a users device requests content to be (re)displayed, the necessary information is looked up in the database, the content file and optional the graphical certificate and software code (stored on the web server or an additional code file server) are combined and the combination is sent to the requesting device. Alternatively the content file and the graphical element may be combined by the requesting device using software code provided by the platform or a trusted third party and stored on the web server or an additional code file server. The chosen strategy depends on the technology that is used to display the content (server side technology like Microsoft ASP.NET (tm) versus client side technology like Adobe Flash (tm)). This invention works with both types of technology.

The database may be organized like the following:

A table, where the collectibles are stored. Each table entry contains at least the collectible owner, the certification class, references to the content files and the collection which the collectible is part of (can also be "none").

A table, where the collections are stored. This table may be the same like the collectibles table and contain the same information. A collection may be as well a collectible in the context of another collection.

A table, where the owners are stored. Each table entry contains at least a unique identifier which can be associated with a platform user. [0084] Collections are accumulations of different content. By default, each kind of content can be combined to a collection. But producers can restrict their content not to be combined with distinct kinds of content (e.g. advertising content).

[0085] For security reasons and in order to prevent the usage of user generated content for advertising purposes, a "protection mechanism" is applied to all content being displayed: an invisible object containing all software code needed to perform interactions is laid out over each corresponding content object. This combination is sent to the user's device each time it requests such a content object. Alternatively the combination is achieved by the requesting device based on trusted software code and on information retrieved from the platform, e.g. "if this combination is clicked, execute the code snippet which can be found through the uniform resource locator (URL) www.codesnippets.com/snippetl l5A.js".

[0086] The distinction between different content classes can be achieved with a

"certification mechanism": a graphical element representing the certificate is combined with the corresponding content and laid out above it. This combination is sent to the users device each time it requests such a content object or alternatively combined by the requesting device based upon information retrieved from the platform. Whenever the user interacts with the certified content object, the graphical element changes its appearance. The software code to do so is contained within the graphical element or within the "protection mechanism" or within trusted software code retrieved from the webserver or an additional file server.

[0087] The following effects are expected for the various stakeholders:

• The producers get a new sales channel for their content

• The producers may also use the platform as a promotion channel by offering collectibles for free in order to promote their main products (e.g. cinema movies)

• The uniqueness of the objects increases their value and makes them resalable and tradable

• The collection mechanism empowers the customers will to buy further content and it links them stronger to the platform • The random auctions offer a way to sell huge amounts of collectibles in an unforeseeable and therefore entertaining way. They also help to determine a "fair price" and create different values for the collectibles, which enforces the trading and reselling economy • The advertising marketplace enables a fair and transparent economy with advertising content

Additionally the advertising content objects can become collectibles, too; the consumers become fans of the advertised brand / product

• The possibility to finance at least a part of their spending for collectibles opens the platform to users who are aware of costs

• With the possibility to distinguish between different classes of content, the producers are ensured that their content is clearly visible as high value commercial content in contrast to user generated content or advertising content

[0088] Fig. 2 shows a state diagram for a collectible. From a state "non existent" the collectible can change to a state "stored in database" via a transition "creation by referencing of content and owner" and back to "non existant" via a transition "deletion". A circular transition "transfer to other owner" starts and ends at the state "stored in database". Another circular transition "adding to / removing from a collection" equally starts and ends at the state "stored in database".

[0089] Fig. 3 shows a state diagram for a so called content object. An initial state "offline" is connected to a state "stored on file server" via a connection "upload to platform". An inverse transition is called "deletion". From the state "stored on file server" a transition "combination with protection layer, software code, attachments, and/or certificate" leads to a state combined for display. From there a transition "sending (over the internet) to the requesting device" leads to a state "displayed.

[0090] Fig. 4 shows a schematic diagram of the apparatus for supporting online col- lections, including the relations and communications among some of its components. A collectibles supplier may upload a master collectible to the platform via a collectibles supplier interface. The platform stores the master collectible. A duplicator creates a plu- rality of duplicate representations of the master collectible. The master collectible itself is not duplicated. Especially in the case of relatively large movie clips copying the master collectible would require large storage capacities. Each representation of the master collectible looks like a collectible that is independently tradable and transferable.

[0091] Consumers may purchase a representation of a collectible and thus benefit from the content of the master collectible (e.g. the movie clip). The purchasing consumer may include the representation of the master collectible in one of his collections that he/she keeps in his profile. The consumer's profile is viewable for third users (pos- sib Iy only after the third user has signed up to the platform or after the third user has become a virtual friend of the owner). By interacting with the individual representation that is displayed as part of a collection in the profile of a consumer, the third user can access the content of the master collectible or a part of the content (e.g. a trailer of the complete movie clip).

[0092] Managing the different collections of a consumer is done by means of a collection administrator that is accessible to the consumer and has access to a representation space containing the representations. Using the collection administrator the consumer may add the collectibles he owns to one of his collections. He may also remove, transfer, or comment the collectible.

[0093] A transaction manager or an auctioneer is provided to distribute collectibles from the collectibles supplier to consumers by means of transactions or auctions, respectively. Auctions are entertaining for the consumers because of the suspense that is connected with the uncertainty of being successful.

[0094] An ownership directory tracks which consumer owns which representation to a master collectible. An initial ownership of a representation is attributed to the transaction receiver or the winning bidder, respectively, of a corresponding auction. Subse- quently the owner may trade the representation with other consumers. These changes of ownership are also tracked in the ownership directory. [0095] The following section describes possible embodiments of a method for preparing a digital media compound for transmission to a remote user site. It also describes embodiments of corresponding apparatuses.

[0096] One of the purposes of a method and an apparatus for preparing a digital media compound for transmission to a remote user site is the establishment of an optical differentiating factor (called a "digital certificate") to distinguish several classes (i.e. certified commercial content, uncertified commercial content and user-generated content) of digital media assets. The distinguishing factor could be combined with an ap- pealing user experience. A possible environment for using such a distinguishing factor is an online platform, where users can upload content for commercial purposes as well as for customizing their individual web pages. The distinguishing factor prevents users from pretending that they have bought a certain media asset by making a screen shot of the media asset and uploading this screen shot, because the distinguishing factor is dif- ficult to copy, especially when the distinguishing factor has a dynamic, user- interactive behaviour and/or a unique identifier (e.g. serial number), which is related to a certain URL.

[0097] The principal stakeholders can be seen in Fig. 5: • "Platform provider": in this case the inventors, but may be any other provider of a similar online platform as well

"Producers": owner of licenses for digital media assets; may be producers, distributors, resellers ...

"Consumers": people who visit our platform in order to consume, buy, sell or trade media assets

• "Competitors" (not shown in Fig. 5): other companies who are directly or indirectly competing with us

[0098] These stakeholders are usually connected by means of the Internet or a simi- lar communication network. The consumer may access the Internet via a stationary computer, a notebook, or a personal digital assistant. [0099] In the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 5, the platform provider maintains five servers: a web server, a file server for media assets, a database server for identification attributes, a database/file server for predefined software code, and a database server for references. The latter four servers are connected to the web server, which in turn is con- nected to the Internet. Other topologies are also possible.

[00100] Procedure from the producers / consumers point of view:

The producer uploads a media asset and a corresponding thumbnail (a representative image for this media asset) and specifies its classification, e.g. "commercial and certified".

• If certification is desired, the platform provider checks, if the producer has the legal right to sell this media asset.

• If so, the media asset is displayed via the thumbnail on the platform with an appropriate graphical element. • Otherwise the media asset is classified and displayed to be "not certified".

• The usage of the media asset on the platform is restricted due to its classification, e.g. only a "commercial" asset may be sold and only for a "certified" asset there is a guarantee that the seller has the legal right to sell it.

• The graphical element may be displayed for only some classes of media assets, e.g. it is not displayed for user-generated content that is not declared commercial but only for private use (i.e. for customization).

• The graphical element may be partly transparent, at least as long as the consumer doesn't interact with the corresponding thumbnail.

• As soon as the consumer interacts with the thumbnail, e.g. by pointing with his computer mouse on it, the appearance of the graphical element changes, e.g. it changes its colour or transparency

• As soon as the interaction ends, the graphical element is reset to its original appearance. In this way, the graphical element serves as a kind of certificate to distinguish different classes of assets. • Since the graphical element changes upon user interaction, it cannot be faked with a static representation, e.g. a screenshot. • If the user clicks on the graphical element, he is redirected to a website containing a representation of the asset and having its uniform resource locator (URL) beginning with the domain name of the platform provider and containing at least a part of the identification attribute. • With this mechanism the user is assured, that he interacts with the original representation of the asset and not a fake representation, since such a URL cannot be faked.

[00101] Exemplary procedure from the technical point of view:

• Over the thumbnail of the media asset, a second transparent object is laid out • This object contains the graphical element

• Its appearance changes, as soon as the user interacts with the thumbnail, e.g. by pointing with his mouse cursor on it

• The graphical element contains (not necessarily) a unique identification attribute, e.g. a number, which differs from each instance of the same media asset • That means, that the combination of thumbnail and identification attribute is unique for each instance of any media asset on the online platform

• The classification can be visualized in two ways: by different colours or transparency level of the graphical element and by showing / not showing the graphical element

[00102] Reason:

Using this procedure, no certificate is needed for assets without a special classification: since the classification is dynamical and therefore cannot be counterfeited within a static thumbnail, the platform provider can allow the combination of certified and uncertified content without risking fraud (i.e. the attempt of faking certified content by up- loading a screenshot)

[00103] Programming Details:

• The producer, who wants to upload a digital media asset, provides his asset as well as a representative image file, the so called "thumbnail", to a web platform, which is lo- cated on a web server

He also specifies, which kind of classification is desired for this asset • As soon as the producer confirmed the upload, the platform fetches both the asset and the thumbnail over the internet, stores them on a file server and checks, which kind of classification is desired. The thumbnail and the asset may alternatively be stored in a database • If a manual review by the platform provider is needed, the provider is informed and the procedure described here continues, as soon as the provider finished the review and confirmed the desired classification. The provider may as well assign the review process to a third party (e.g. a clearing agency)

• An appropriate identification attribute is generated and stored in a database together with the assets classification, a link to the thumbnail and a link to the asset

• The platform creates a graphical element that may be of the same or different size than the thumbnail

• The identification attribute is laid out inside the graphical element. It may also be partly transparent • Whenever the thumbnail representing the media asset has to be displayed on a consumers device (stationary computer, portable computer, cellular phone, ...), the platform looks up the identification attribute in its database and lays out the appropriate graphical element over the thumbnail, which it fetches from the file server

• Then both the thumbnail and the graphical element are sent over the internet to the consumer's device

• If the thumbnail and the graphical element are already stored on the consumer's device, e.g. if they have been cached by the web browser, they may only be activated instead of being sent again. An additional request from the client to the platform may be required in order to check the classification for this asset, or the classification may be cached as well.

• As soon as the consumer interacts with the thumbnail, e.g. by pointing with his mouse on it, the code behind it triggers an animation process, which changes the appearance of the graphical element corresponding to its classification

• As soon as the consumer ends the interaction, e.g. by pointing with his mouse somewhere else, the code behind the thumbnail triggers another animation process, which resets the graphical element back to its original appearance • The code triggering both animation processes may also lie behind a partly or fully transparent object of the same or other size as the thumbnail, which contains the graphical element. It may also lie directly behind the graphical element. The strategy chosen at this point does not affect the procedure described here.

[00104] Fig. 6 shows the schematic architecture of the apparatus for preparing a classification-indicative digital media compound in a more detailed illustration. A device at a remote user site transmits a request for a media asset (an image in this case, but not limited thereto) to the platform via the Internet. The request may contain an identi- fier of the media asset. The request is received at an interface IF of the platform. The interface IF forwards the request to an image storage IMG STG and a certification database CERT DB. The image storage IMG STG provides the requested image. The certification database CERT DB checks whether the requested image has an entry with respect to any certification. If yes, the certification database CERT DB outputs a corre- sponding result and possibly the type of the certification. The result is used by a generator GEN that is arranged to create a dynamic, user-interactive graphical object (containing the digits 123 in Fig. 6 as the identifier of the image) and software code SC. The software code controls the user-interactivity of the graphical object. The image, the graphical object, and the software code are transferred to a combiner CMB. Combiner CMB creates a digital media compound comprising the image, the graphical object, and the software code. The digital media compound is then sent to the remote user site via the Internet. Instead of the image itself, a link to the image may be sent in order to enable the device at the remote user site to load the image from a different file server. This strategy allows distributing the load of serving the certificate and the image among dif- ferent servers without affecting the displayed result.

[00105] Fig. 7 shows a flow chart of the method for preparing a digital media compound for transmission to a remote user site.

[00106] In a first step a producer uploads a content file and a thumbnail. The producer then specifies a classification of the certification. The platform stores the files on a file server. The platform also performs a linking between files and owner. The links are stored in a database. Verification is made whether the classification of the certification indicates that a certification is requested. If not, the platform directly proceeds to a step of creating an appropriate graphical element (including code). If a certification is requested the platform provider checks whether the producer is the legal license owner. If not, the certification is rejected and the method ends. If yes, the already mentioned step of creating an appropriate graphical element (including code) is performed. The platform stores the graphical element and links it. Instead of storing the graphical element itself, the platform may store the information, how to create this graphical element and send this information to the consumer's device instead of sending the graphical element itself. Then, trusted software on the consumer's device is able to create the graphical element based on this information without affecting the displayed result.

[00107] Upon a request from a consumer device at a remote user site the platform combines the Thumbnail and the graphical element. The platform sends the combina- tion to the consumer device and the consumer device displays the combination. The displayed graphical element changes its appearance upon interaction as an indication that the content is certified.

[00108] Figures 8 and 9 show screenshots of how the digital media compound is displayed. In Fig. 8 the user currently interacts with the graphical element, e.g. by hovering the mouse pointer (not shown in Fig. 8) over the graphical element. The graphical element takes a certain color in reaction to the user interaction. In Fig. 9 the user has ceased to interact with the graphical element and the color of the graphical element changes back to another color. In addition, the graphical element becomes half- transparent again. It is possible to use different colors for various certification classes, e.g. red for certified commercial content and black for uncertified commercial content.

[00109] The following section describes possible embodiments of a method for performing an online auction. It also describes embodiments of corresponding apparatuses.

[00110] One of the purposes of a method and an apparatus for performing an online auction is the establishment of an electronic market for catalogue items where a set of items owned by a seller is offered to one or several buyers via auctions where the concrete item to be auctioned is chosen randomly. An announcement for each auction is published by the platform a given amount of time before the auction starts in order to create an entertaining "shopping experience" for the buyers.

[00111] Fig. 10 shows the principal stakeholders:

• "Platform provider": in this case the inventors, but may be any other provider of a similar online platform as well

• "Seller": owner of a set of catalogue items, who wants to sell them • "Buyer": person who wants to buy a catalogue item

[00112] Fig. 10 also shows the topology of the platform. A web server is connected to the Internet. Two further servers are connected to the web server. One of these two servers is a file server for catalogue items. The second server is a database server for references to the catalogue of items to be sold. Other topologies are also possible.

[00113] Procedure from the sellers / buyers point of view:

[00114] The seller specifies to the platform a set of catalogue items he owns on this platform. He may provide additional information like the minimum price for each item, the time span within the auctions should have been finished, the amount of time, when the auction is announced before its starting point and the duration of the auctions. The procedure described here uses the so called English auction as an example, but it works with all kind of auctions, like Dutch auction or Vickrey auction.

[00115] The seller may also leave the number of items to be sold unspecified and only specify a timeframe in which as many items as desired by the platform users are sold. This goal can be achieved by setting a maximum number of concurrent bidders for each (primary) auction and automatically starting another (secondary) auction in parallel as soon as the maximum number of bidders has been reached.

[00116] Example: the seller chooses a set of 1.000 items he owns on the platform, he specifies that the minimum price for each item is $0,50 and that all auctions should have been finished within the following 10 days. The announcement should be made 5 minutes before each auction and the duration of each auction should be 10 minutes

[00117] If the seller leaves some of these aspects unspecified, default values are used. Within the specified time span, the platform schedules as many auctions as items are available. The concrete item to be sold is chosen randomly by the platform just when the corresponding announcement is published.

[00118] Example: If 1.000 items have to be auctioned within 10 days, the platform schedules 100 auctions each day, which may be run in parallel. The concrete item to be auctioned is chosen 5 minutes before the corresponding auction starts and immediately announced together with the auction description. The auction starts 5 minutes after the announcement and runs for 10 minutes.

[00119] If an item can't be sold, because there was no bidder, it can be chosen for another subsequent auction. That means, the items are in a kind of pool and the platform takes for each auction one of them out of the pool. If it cannot be sold, it is put back into the pool and can be chosen again. In this case, more auctions than items have to be scheduled. The whole process can be limited by time or by amount of sold items.

[00120] Procedure from the technical point of view:

[00121] As soon as the seller has confirmed his request, the platform creates a list of all items. The platform schedules as many auctions as items are in the list within the given time span. The concrete items to be sold in each auction are not defined yet. This information is stored (e.g. in a database) and triggers for both the announcement and the start of the auctions are defined and set. At the defined point of time, the trigger for the announcement invokes the platform to choose randomly one item out of the list. This item is deleted from the list. The platform broadcasts the announcement for the auction including the description of the item to be sold. At the defined point of time, the trigger for the auction invokes the start of this auction. After the auction has been finished, the platform checks, if there has been at least one bidder for the item to be sold. If so, it transfers this item to the winning bidder and his offered money to the seller. Else it writes this item in the list again and no transfer is done. In this case, an additional auction is automatically being scheduled. The system can handle several auctions in parallel.

If the seller chose to sell an unlimited number of items within a given timeframe, the scheduler only schedules the primary auctions and triggers additional secondary auctions as soon as the maximum number of bidders for a primary auction has been reached. In this case, instead of fetching the items out of a list, the platform creates the items at the moment, when the auction starts. The platform derivates the items from a template and uses a counter to determine a unique number for each item.

[00122] Example: A seller specifies a template that contains content of which he is the copyright owner. He specifies that an unlimited number of copies of this template may be sold within the following 10 days. The platform schedules one primary auction per hour for these 10 days. Each primary auction is announced a specified time frame ahead of the starting time of the auction (this time may also be zero). As soon as the auction has started, the platform counts the concurrent bidders. If this counter reaches a defined boundary (e.g. 20 concurrent bidders), no more bidder is allowed to participate in this auction. Instead a secondary auction which offers another copy of the same tem- plate is started in parallel and all following bidders which wanted to take part in the primary auction are redirected to the secondary auction, until it reaches again the maximum number of bidders. As soon as this boundary is reached, a third auction is started in parallel and so on.

[00123] With this procedure, the seller can sell a large amount of catalogue item in a convenient way.

[00124] He gets assured or at least improves his chances, that these items are sold within a specified time period or that a specified amount of items is sold. The seller doesn't have to estimate a final price, but only a minimal price. The buyers get informed about which item is sold only short time before the auctions start and the auctions only run a small period of time, which increases the "live shopping experience". [00125] Fig. 11 shows a flow chart of a method for performing an online auction. The producer specifies a set of items to be sold. The platform generates a list of all items. The platform schedules auctions, leaving the concrete items unspecified. Two triggers (announcement and auction start) for each auction are set. When the first trigger fires, an item is chosen randomly out of the list. The platform deletes the item from the list. The auction and the corresponding item description are announced. When the second trigger fires, the auction starts. After a specified duration the platform finishes the auction. The platform checks whether at least one bid was received. If so, the platform transfer the ownership of the article and arranges for the transfer of money. If not, the platform re-enters the article in the list and schedules an additional auction.

[00126] Fig 12. shows a time diagram of an auction that is performed according to the flow chart of Fig. 11. Once an auction A is scheduled, the announcement time, the start time, and the end time are determined. However, the article that will be the subject of the auction is not yet known. At the announcement time for auction A (or shortly before) an article is randomly selected. A corresponding announcement is made, e.g. by publishing this information on a web page of the platform or by sending an email to subscribers. A specified time after the announcement the auction A is started and runs for a predetermined duration. While auction A is running, bidders can place bids. After the auction has ended at the end time of the auction, the winning bidder is determined (if there has been at least one bid).

[00127] Fig. 13 shows a schematic diagram of the apparatus for performing online auctions, including internal details of the apparatus and their relations and communications.. A seller can specify the articles to be sold by means of a seller interface. The input of the seller is stored in a database ARTICLE DB. A selector is controlled by a random generator and picks articles to be auctioned at random.

[00128] The apparatus also comprises a scheduler that creates a list of auctions, their auction dates (start dates) and their announcement dates. Information related to the announcement dates is sent to an announcement publisher. Information relating to the arti- cles to be auctioned is transmitted to an auctioneer. The auctioneer is triggered by a signal "trigger auction" and subsequently starts the auction.

[00129] The following section describes possible embodiments of a method for indi- vidualizing digital catalogue items. It also describes embodiments of corresponding apparatuses.

[00130] One of the purposes of a method and an apparatus for individualizing digital catalogue items is to add individual content to digital catalogue items in order to make items which are derived from the same "main content" to unique objects which differ in their "life stories". This individual content may be generated by the consumers as well as by the platform.

[00131] Fig. 14 shows the principal stakeholders: • "Platform provider": in this case the inventors, but may be any other provider of a similar online platform as well

• "Producers": owners of licenses for digital media assets; may be producers, distributors, resellers ...

• "Consumers": people who visit our platform in order to consume, buy, sell or trade media assets

[00132] Fig. 14 also shows the topology of the platform. A web server is connected to the Internet. Three further servers are connected to the web server. One of these three servers is a file server for catalogue items. The second server is a database server for references to the catalogue of items and attachments. The third server is a file server / database server for attachments and additional information that are linked to the catalogue items and form the individualization. Other topologies are also possible.

[00133] Procedure from the producers / consumers point of view: [00134] The producer uploads to the platform a digital media file, for which content he owns the intellectual property rights. This file is copied by the platform and each copy is given an individual identification attribute (e.g. a serial number). The copies are so Id by the producer via the platform to consumers. The owner of such a copy or a third person may attach content, for which he owns the intellectual property rights, e.g. a photo he shot or a comment. The platform may attach to each copy individual information, derived from state changes of this copy (e.g. when the copy is sold, the date and the price of this transaction are attached). In this way each copy gets more and more individual attachments, which differentiates it from each other copy, it gets a "life story".

[00135] Procedure from the technical point of view:

[00136] As soon as the producer has uploaded his catalogue item, the platform stores it on a file server. Whenever a new copy is needed, the platform creates a new entry in a database with a reference to the catalogue item. From the consumers point of view the platform copies the file, whereas it only creates new references. Whenever a copy changes its owner, only the corresponding database entry is changed. Whenever a consumer or the platform attaches content / information to the copy, a file containing this content / information is uploaded on a file server / database and a reference to this file is added to the corresponding database entry of the copy. Whenever the copy is displayed on a consumers device, the platform looks up the corresponding database entry, fetches the catalogue item (= the "main content") and its attachments and sends them altogether over the Internet to the consumers device. For the consumer it looks like he has an indi- vidual copy with individual attachments on his device. He gets the image, that his copy is unique and that it has a "life story".

[00137] To summarize the above, the producer can derive from one single digital media source several unique copies. Those copies can be extended by their owners along their life cycle. In this way, the social, emotional and rational value of each copy increases. With the value increasing, the owner is more likely to sell his copy, which may increase again the value of this copy, since it gets a new owner and therefore new information / content attached.

[00138] Fig. 15 shows a flow chart of the method. The producer uploads a file containing content to the platform and the platform stores the file on the file server. At some later time the platform receives information from a consumer indicating that the consumer wishes to attach one or more of his personal files to the content. For example, if the content is a scene from a movie rolled at some famous location the consumer may want to attach a photo of him standing in the same location.

[00139] The platform then generates a new database entry for each new file to be attached. The attached information is stored in a database. This may be a comment of the consumer. In parallel, the attached files (if any) are stored on the file server and links between the content and the attached files are stored in a database.

[00140] Some time later a consumer device of the consumer or of a third party requests a copy. The platform combines the content and the attachments. The platform sends the combination to the consumer device. The consumer device displays the combination. The combination looks like a unique, personalized copy. Consumers can thus create their own virtual scrapbooks.

[00141] Fig. 16 shows a component interaction and relationship diagram of an apparatus for individualizing digital catalogue items. A content supplier has access to the platform via a content supplier interface. The content supplier may upload a master to the platform which the platform stores ("stored master"). A reference creator creates in- dividual references for various consumers ("individual references for consumer 1...4").

The individual references are grouped in a reference space for illustrative purposes only.

[00142] A consumer interacts with the platform via a consumer interface. A consumer (consumer 3) may own one or several individual references to a master. The con- sumer may wish to upload digital objects as attachments to the individual reference. The consumer may also wish to simply comment one of his individual references. He may do so by uploading files (digital objects) to the consumer interface of the platform and/or type his comment as a text in an input field of a graphical user interface of the consumer interface (command "add further reference"). The consumer interface for- wards these attachment requests to a further reference adder. The further reference adder creates a link between the stored digital object and the selected individual reference (in this case the individual reference for consumer 3). [00143] Fig. 17 shows the relation between a master, individual references, and stored digital objects. The master is a movie clip in this example. Three consumers own an individual reference to the master, respectively. Consumer 2 has added two digital objects as attachments to his individual reference, namely a text file named *.txt and an image named *.jpg. Consumer 3 has also attached two digital objects as attachments to his individual reference, one of which is an audio file in the mp3 format. Consumer 1 has not attached any digital objects to his individual reference. The master itself is not intended to be altered by the consumers. Thus all three consumers may access the same master and yet individualize or personalize their reference.

[00144] The following section describes possible embodiments of a method for brokering online advertisements. It also describes embodiments of corresponding apparatuses.

[00145] One of the purposes for a method and an apparatus for brokering online advertisements is the establishment of a marketplace where providers of advertising content can offer their advertisements to consumers who can place this advertisement within their profile / content web pages on a web platform and get paid for doing so by the advertising provider while the marketplace provider retains a fee.

[00146] Fig. 18 shows the principal stakeholders:

• "Marketplace provider": in this case the inventors, but may be any other provider of a similar electronic marketplace as well • "Advertising provider": owner of advertising content; may be a marketing agency, a company, a (n online) shop ...

"Consumers": people who are online advertising space owners and who visit our marketplace in order to chose advertising content with which they can earn money by presenting it on their advertising space. • "Third user": people who interact with the advertising content on one of the consumers web page. [00147] Fig. 18 also shows the topology of the platform. A web server is connected to the Internet. Three further servers are connected to the web server. One of these three servers is a file server for advertising content. The second server is a database server for references to consumers (advertising space owners), advertising content, and interaction logic. The third server is a file server for software code with interaction logic. Other topologies are also possible.

[00148] Procedure from the advertising providers / consumers point of view: [00149] The advertising provider uploads this advertising content to the marketplace web server. He specifies, how much and for which interactions (e.g. viewing, clicking, playing), triggered by third users, the consumer gets paid. He can also specify a "budget", that means a maximum amount of money, which he wants to pay for interactions with the representation of this content. As soon as this budget level has been reached, the ad is "deactivated", which means, that either no more interactions with this ad are possible or the user gets informed, that he will get no more money for this ad.

The ad is displayed on the marketplace, together with the specified information. The consumer can choose one (or more) of the offered ads, which one he wants to display on his profile / content web pages. The consumer specifies, on which of his web pages the content is displayed, the ad is immediately being displayed on this / these web page(s). Each interaction of third users with the ad is being registered by the marketplace web server. The marketplace provider transfers the specified amount of money to the consumer and charges the advertising provider. The marketplace provider may also charge a fee for his service from the advertising provider.

[00150] Procedure from the technical point of view:

[00151] As soon as the provider has uploaded his advertising content and specified his conditions, the marketplace platform combines this ad with software code that manages and measures all possible interaction of third users with this ad and reports it. The combination is stored on a file / streaming server and creates a database entry for it. The combination may also be stored on separate servers and be connected logically via a database. The ad is displayed on a marketplace web page together with the conditions. As soon as a consumer has decided to place the ad on one of his web pages and specified this / these page(s), the marketplace platform placed the combination of ad and software code on this / these page(s). Whenever a third user interacts with the ad in one of the specified ways, the software code measures this and reports it to the marketplace platform. The marketplace platform logs this report in a file / database and transfers the specified amount of money for this interaction to the consumer. The marketplace platform also charges the advertising provider the same amount of money plus an additional fee. If the advertising provider has specified a maximum budget for the ad and this budget has been reached, the marketplace platform either informs the software code to disable all specified interaction possibilities or it informs the consumer, that he won't be paid any longer for any interactions made by third users with this ad. This goal is achieved by using the technique described within the "click protection" procedure.

[00152] Consumers (i.e. advertisement space owners) are free to choose, which ad they want to present and where they want to present it. In this way, the third users who interact with the ad regard it more as a "recommendation" of the consumer than as an

"advertising". In consequence, the advertising effort is more efficient, since the associations of the third users are more positive. On the other side the advertising providers have to offer "fair prices" to the consumers presenting their ads, in order to motivate them to do so. The price is determined by offer and request like on a real marketplace.

[00153] Fig. 19 shows a component interaction and relationship diagram of a marketplace platform apparatus. An advertising content supplier may interact with the platform via an advertising content supplier interface. The advertising content supplier may upload an advertisement that he offers to advertising space owners along with condi- tions such as the remuneration for certain events (e.g. clicks by third users on the advertisement). The stored offered advertisement can be viewed by consumers who have advertising space available. The consumers are, in this case, also advertising space owners. If a consumer finds a particular advertisement acceptable and is satisfied with the offered conditions, he may accept that advertisement to be displayed within his profile that he maintains at the platform. The consumer may possibly also specify the placement of the advertisement. [00154] A third user who is browsing the consumer's profile discovers the advertisement and decides to interact with this advertisement, e.g. by clicking on it. The interaction leads to redirected response action of the advertisement, e.g. the user is redirected to a web page or an advertisement video is played. The interaction of the third user with the advertisement placed in the consumer's profile is sensed by a counter. The number of interactions per time interval (day, week, month ...) is transmitted to an accounting module of the platform. The accounting module maintains accounts for the advertising content supplier, for the advertising space owner (the consumer), and for the platform itself. A certain amount of money is transferred from the advertising content supplier's account to the advertising space owner's account. The platform's account receives a certain percentage of the transferred money as remuneration for maintaining the advertising marketplace platform.

[00155] In a variant, the advertising space that is available to a particular consumer could be a function of the consumer's level of activity on the platform. For example, if the platform is mainly an online collection platform, the number of collectibles owned by the consumer could determine the number/size of advertising spaces available (e.g. one advertising space per ten collectibles). Complete collections of a particular series of collectibles could result in bonus advertising spaces.

[00156] Fig. 20 shows a flow chart of a method for advertisement brokering. The advertising content supplier (or producer) initially performs the actions "Upload advertising content" and "Specify conditions". Then the marketplace platform performs the actions: "Combine advertisement with software code", "Store combination", and "Dis- play advertisement and conditions for selection by an interested consumer".

[00157] An advertising space owner selects the advertisement and places the advertisement in his profile.

[00158] A third user interacts with the advertisement. [00159] The platform then detects and counts the interaction of the third user with the advertisement. Subsequently, the platform calculates a remuneration and a fee. The advertising content supplier (or producer) is debited with the calculated remuneration + fee, and the advertising space owner is credited with the calculated remuneration.

[00160] The following section describes possible embodiments of a method for preparing a user-interactive digital media compound for transmission from a provider site to a remote user site. It also describes possible embodiments of corresponding apparatuses.

[00161] One of the purposes for a method and an apparatus for preparing a user- interactive digital media compound for transmission from a provider site to a remote user site is the establishing of the automatic control of a resulting action that is triggered by a consumer interacting with a digital media asset on an online platform, where users can upload content for commercial purpose as well as user-generated content for individualizing their web pages in order to prevent the triggering of a resulting action different from the specified one.

[00162] Fig. 21 shows the principal stakeholders: • "Platform provider": in this case the inventors, but may be any other provider of a similar online platform as well

• "Producers": owner of licenses for digital media assets; may be producers, distributors, resellers ...

[00163] Fig. 21 also shows the topology of the platform. A web server is connected to the Internet. Three further servers are connected to the web server. One of these three servers is a file server for media assets. The second server is a database server for iden- tification attributes. The third server is a file server / database server for predefined software code. Other topologies are also possible. [00164] Procedure from the producers / consumers point of view: [00165] The producer uploads a media asset and specifies the resulting action, e.g. "open a new website" or "play a video". He provides the necessary information / files, e.g. the link to the website or the video file. Whenever a consumer interacts with the media asset, e.g. by clicking with a computer mouse on it, only the action specified by the producer is executed. Therefore the producer has no possibility, to hide any other action within the media asset that could be triggered, when the consumer interacts with it.

[00166] Procedure from the technical point of view:

[00167] Over the thumbnail of the media asset, a second transparent object is laid out. This object contains the code that is executed, whenever the consumer interacts with the media asset in a specified manner. In this way, all code that may be stored within the media asset will not be executed, but only the action that was specified by the pro ducer during the up Io ad pro cess .

[00168] Thus the platform provider can participate in the profit generated for the producer due to specific actions that the producer desires to be executed, whenever a consumer interacts with the media asset. The platform provider can allow any producer to upload any content and assure automatically, that no action will be executed, which the producer didn't pay for.

[00169] Example: the producer wants to upload a media asset for advertising purposes, e.g. a movie trailer. The desired action would be to play the trailer, when the user clicks on it, and offer him a link to a website, where he can buy the DVD containing this movie.

[00170] Programming Details:

[00171] The producer, who wants to upload a digital media asset, provides his asset as well as the necessary additional files and information, to a web platform, which is lo- cated on a web server. He also specifies, which kind of action is desired to be executed, whenever a user interacts with the media asset. As soon as the producer confirmed the upload, the platform fetches both the asset and the additional files over the internet, stores them on a file server and checks which kind of action is desired. The additional files and the asset may alternatively be stored in a database. An appropriate identification attribute is generated and stored in a database together with the desired action, links to the additional files and a link to the asset. The platform creates a transparent object of exactly the same size and form of the media asset. The platform links this object to a predefined part of software code corresponding to the desired action. This code may be stored on the web server as well as on any file server or in a database. Whenever the media asset has to be displayed on a consumers device (personal computer, notebook, cellular phone, ...), the platform looks up the identification attribute in its database and lays out the appropriate transparent object over the media asset, which it fetches from the file server. Then both the media asset and the transparent object are sent over the internet to the consumer's device. As soon as the consumer interacts with the media asset, e.g. by clicking with his mouse on it, the code behind the transparent object is triggered and only the desired action is executed, not any action that may be hidden within the media asset.

[00172] Fig. 22 shows a flow chart of the method. The size and form of a media item is estimated. Then a transparent object of the same size and form is created. The transparent object and the software code for interaction are combined.

[00173] When a consumer device requests a media asset, the combination is sent to the consumer device. The consumer device then displays a combination that looks like a pure content object. However, any interactive behaviour is governed by the overlaid transparent object so that any user-interactive behaviour will not be activated.

[00174] Fig. 23 shows a component interaction and relation diagram of the apparatus for preparing a user- interactive digital media compound, including internal details of the apparatus and their relations and communications. A media item storage contains media items. The supplier of the media item may define a certain activity that should be per- formed upon user interaction. The platform provider may then check this activity with respect to platform policies and authorize it if there are no objections. The provider- authorized activities are kept in a repository and are linked to the corresponding media item by an assignment. In addition, an associator is creates an association between the provider-authorized activity and a second item (for example a graphical element that is at least partly transparent).

[00175] An over layer takes the media item and the second item as an input and creates a stacked item. The stacked item is then sent to a requesting user device. At the requesting user device the second item intercepts any user interaction. This prevents software code contained in the media item from becoming executed on the user device and perform unauthorized activities.

[00176] While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive; the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments.

[00177] For example, it is possible to operate the invention in other embodiments. An example is the distribution of purchasable digital consumer goods (e.g. audio/video files) other than in a collectibles context. The certificate described herein could be used with such digital consumer goods. Thus a consumer could resell a digital consumer good together with the certificate to another consumer. Since the certificate itself cannot be easily copied without losing its user-interactive behaviour, any fraudulent copies can be easily detected.

[00178] Another alternative would be the application of the teachings herein to auc- tions for real, physical collectibles. This could be interesting for sellers of such collectibles, such as trading cards. Especially the new concept of random auctions could be applied to such auctions.

[00179] Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and ef- fected by those skilled in the art in practicing the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. A single processor or other unit may fulfil the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage. A computer program may be stored/distributed on a suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium supplied together with or as part of other hardware, but may also be distributed in other forms, such as via the Internet or other wired or wireless telecommunication systems. Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope.

Claims

1. Method for preparing a digital media compound for transmission to a remote user site, the digital media compound being certification class indicative upon user- interaction, the method comprising:

- determining an identifier of the digital media compound;

- retrieving a media item corresponding to the identifier;

- querying a certification database (CERT DB) with the identifier and retrieving as- sociated certification class information from the certification database;

- generating a dynamic, user- interactive graphical element, the type of the graphical element depending on the associated certification class information;

2. Method according to claim 1, further comprising:

- generating user-interaction control code (SC) to be executed at the remote user site, the user interaction control code determining, at the remote user site, the position of a visual pointer relative to a position of the graphical element and modifying the appearance of the graphical element depending on whether the visual pointer is within a certain distance from the graphical element or not;

- inserting the user-interaction control code (SC) into the digital media compound during said combining of the media item and the graphical element.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein during said packing the graphical element is overlaid to the media item

4. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising the insertion of a graphical representation of the identifier or of another unique indicator into the graphical element during said graphical element generating.

5. Method according to claim 4, wherein the graphical element comprises an instruction for redirection to a website, the uniform resource locator of said website comprising the domain name of the platform provider and at least a part of identifier or the unique indicator.

6. Computer program product having instruction stored thereon that enable a processor to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. Apparatus for displaying the digital media compound prepared according to any one of the claims 1 to 5 comprising a graphical display and a graphics card for producing a media item of the digital media compound on the graphical display.

8. Apparatus for preparing a digital media compound for transmission to a remote user site, the digital media compound being certification class indicative upon user- interaction, the apparatus comprising:

- a media item storage (IMG STG) arranged to store and provide a media item,

- a certification database (CERT DB),

- a graphical element generator (GEN) arranged to generate a graphical element, the type of the generated graphical element depending on the associated certification class information,

- a combiner (CMB) that is arranged to combine the media item and the graphical element to form the digital media compound.

9. Arrangement for handling a digital media compound, the digital media compound being certification class indicative upon user-interaction, the arrangement comprising:

- a media item storage (IMG STG) arranged to store and provide a media item,

- a certification database (CERT DB),

- a graphical element generator (GEN) arranged to generate a graphical element, the type of the generated graphical element depending on the associated certification class information, - a combiner (CMB) that is arranged to combine the media item and the graphical element to form the digital media compound.

10. Arrangement according to claim 9, wherein the media item storage (IMG STG) and the certification database (CERT DB) are associated with an origin of the media item, and wherein the graphical element generator (GEN) and the combiner are associated with a destination of the media item.

11. Method for preparing a digital media compound for transmission to a remote user site, the method comprising:

- retrieving a media item;

- generating a user-interactive verification element;

- combining the verification element to form the digital media compound; wherein the verification element comprises an instruction for redirecting a third user to a website upon a certain interaction of the third user with the verification element when displayed at the remote user site, the uniform resource locator of said website comprising the domain name of the platform provider.

12. Method according to claim 11, further comprising: - determining an identifier or a unique indicator of the digital media compound, wherein the uniform resource locator of said website further comprises at least a part of the identifier or the unique indicator.

13. Apparatus for displaying the digital media compound prepared according to any one of the claims 9 or 10 comprising a graphical display and a graphics card for producing a media item of the digital media compound on the graphical display.

14. Digital media compound, comprising

- a media item; - a user- interactive verification element that comprises an instruction for redirecting a third user to a website upon a certain interaction of the third user with the verifi- cation element when displayed at the remote user site, the uniform resource locator of said website comprising the domain name of the platform provider.

15. Apparatus for preparing a digital media compound for transmission to a remote user site, the apparatus comprising:

- a media item storage (IMG STG) arranged to store and provide a media item;

16. Method for performing an online auction, the method comprising: a) receiving information relative to a plurality of articles to be auctioned from a seller; b) scheduling a plurality of auction times and preceding announcement times for a plurality of online auctions; c) randomly selecting an article to be auctioned from said plurality of articles; d) publishing, at one of the plurality of announcement times, an announcement relative to an auction of the article to be auctioned, the auction to be held at a scheduled auction time a predetermined time after the announcement time; e) starting the online auction at the scheduled auction time.

17. Method according to claim 16, further comprising: f) ending the online auction a second predetermined time span after starting the online auction; g) determining whether at least one bid was received between said starting the auction and said ending the auction; h) repeating the actions c) to f) if no bid was received.

18. Method according to claim 17, further comprising: al) entering said information relative to the article to be auctioned in a list upon receiving said information, the list containing upcoming, scheduled auctions; dl) deleting said information from said list upon publishing the announcement; gl) reentering said information in the list upon determining that no bid was received.

19. Computer program product having instruction stored thereon that enable a proces- sor to carry out the method according to any one of claims 16 to 18.

20. Apparatus for displaying information relative to an auction performed according to any one of the claims 14 to 16, the apparatus comprising a graphical display and a graphics card.

21. Apparatus for performing an online auction, the apparatus comprising:

- an auctioneer for starting the online auction at the scheduled auction time.

22. Method for individualizing digital catalogue items, the method comprising:

- receiving a master of a digital catalogue item from a content supplier; - creating an individual reference to the master;

- receiving a digital object or information and a corresponding command to link the digital object or information to the individual reference; - storing the digital object or information;

23. Method according to claim 22, wherein the actions involving the individual reference are performed by controlling a database.

24. Method according to claim 22 or 23, further comprising:

- transferring ownership of the individual reference and the digital object linked thereto from said consumer to another consumer by deactivating an ownership entry of the consumer and adding a new ownership entry for the other consumer.

25. Method according to any one of claims 22 to 24, further comprising:

- receiving, from a third user, a request for displaying a representation to the indi- vidual reference;

- transmitting to the third user the representation to the individual reference along with a further reference to each digital object or information that is linked to the individual reference;

- performing a predetermined action when the third user interacts with the individ- ual reference or with the further reference to the one of the digital objects.

26. Computer program product having instruction stored thereon that enable a processor to carry out the method according to any one of claims 22 to 25.

27. Apparatus for displaying the digital catalogue item prepared according to any one of the claims 22 to 25, as well as a digital object linked thereto, the apparatus comprising a graphical display and a graphics card for producing an image of the digital catalogue item and the digital object or information linked thereto.

28. Apparatus for individualizing digital catalogue items, the apparatus comprising:

- a content supplier interface for receiving a master of a digital catalogue item from a content supplier; - a reference creator adapted to create an individual reference to the master;

- a storage for the digital object or information; - a reference adder that adds a further reference relative to the digital object or information to the individual reference.

29. Method for brokering online advertisements between an advertisement content supplier and an advertising space owner who owns online advertising space, the metho d comprising :

- the advertisement content supplier offering the advertisement at an online marketplace platform;

- the marketplace platform referencing the advertisement;

- the advertising space owner selecting the advertisement; - the marketplace platform registering the selection of the advertisement by the advertising space owner;

30. Method according to claim 29, wherein the marketplace platform adds software code to the advertisement during referencing the advertisement and registering the selection of the advertisement, the software code being arranged to measure interaction of third users with the advertisement and to transmit corresponding interaction frequency information to the marketplace platform.

31. Method according to claim 30, further comprising:

- the marketplace platform performing accounting on the basis of said frequency information;

- the marketplace platform debiting the advertisement content supplier as a function of the frequency information;

- the marketplace platform crediting the advertisement space owner as a function of the frequency information.

32. Method according to claim 30, wherein, during said offering the advertisement, the advertisement content supplier defines a financial limit for said debiting, and wherein the marketplace platform ceases said debiting and said crediting upon reaching said limit.

33. Computer program product having instruction stored thereon that enable a processor to carry out the method according to any one of claims 29 to 32.

34. Apparatus for displaying the online advertisements brokered according to any one of the claims 29 to 32 comprising a graphical display and a graphics card for producing an image of the online advertisement on the graphical display.

35. Method for preparing a user- interactive digital media compound for transmission from a provider site to a remote user site, the method comprising:

- determining a provider-authorized activity associated with the media item and to be performed upon user- interaction with the media item; - associating the provider-authorized activity to a second item;

36. Method according to claim 35, wherein said associating the provider- authorized ac- tivity to the second item comprises providing code to the second item specifying the activity and to be executed at the remote user site upon user- interaction.

37. Method according to claim 35 or 36, wherein the activity comprises communicating a user-interaction to the provider site.

38. Method according to any one of claims 35 to 37, wherein the second item is at least partly transparent so that the media item is visible to a user at the remote user site.

39. Method according to any one of claims 35 to 38, prior to said obtaining further comprising:

- receiving instructions from a media item supplier specifying the activity to be per- formed upon user- interaction with a particular media item.

40. Computer program product having instruction stored thereon that enable a processor to carry out the method according to any one of claims 35 to 39.

41. Apparatus for displaying the digital media compound prepared according to any one of the claims 35 to 39 comprising a graphical display and a graphics card for producing representation of the digital media compound on the graphical display.

42. Apparatus for preparing a user-interactive digital media compound for transmission to a remote user site, the apparatus comprising:

- a media item storage arranged to store and provide a media item;

- an associator arranged to associate the one of the activities with a second item; - an overlayer arranged to overlay the second item over the media item to create a stacked item so that any user-interaction with the stacked item is intercepted by the second item.

43. Method for supporting online collections of digitally storable collectibles, the rne- thod comprising:

- receiving a master collectible from a collectibles supplier;

- performing a transaction or a randomly scheduled auction for an obtainable repre- sentation selected from one of the duplicated plurality of representations;

- determining a winning bidder of the randomly scheduled auction; - transferring the ownership of the obtainable representation to the winning bidder, the obtainable representation thereby becoming an attributed representation;

- inserting the attributed representation in a collection of the winning bidder.

44. Method according to claim 43, further comprising displaying a reference to the attributed representation when a third user accesses a web page containing a listing of said collection of the winning bidder.

45. Method according to claim 43 or 44, further comprising at least one of the methods according to claims 1 to 4, claims 11 or 12, claims 17 to 20, claims 24 to 26, claims 30 to 31, and claims 37 to 40.

46. Computer program product having instruction stored thereon that enable a processor to carry out the method according to any one of claims 43 to 45.

47. Apparatus for displaying the attributed representation prepared according to any one of the claims 43 to 45 comprising a graphical display and a graphics card for producing an image of the digital media compound on the graphical display.

48. Apparatus for supporting online collections of digitally storable collectibles, the apparatus comprising:

- a collectibles supplier interface adapted to receive a master collectible from a collectibles supplier;

- a duplicator adapted to duplicate a plurality of representations of the master col- lectible, the ownership of each representation being separately transferable;

- a transaction manager or an auctioneer adapted to perform transactions or randomly scheduled auctions for an obtainable representation selected from the duplicated plurality of representations, to determine a transaction receiver or a winning bidder of the randomly scheduled auction, and to change a status of the obtainable representation to attributed representation;

- an ownership directory adapted to track changes of the ownership of the attributed representation; - a collection administrator adapted to manage a collection of the transaction receiver or the winning bidder and to insert the attributed representation in the collection of the transaction receiver or the winning bidder.

49. Apparatus according to claim 48, further comprising at least one of the apparatuses according to claim 8 to 10, claim 15, claim 23, claim 29, claim 36, and claim 42.