WO2001063437A1

WO2001063437A1 - System and method for providing transparent and anonymous transactions for the internet

Info

Publication number: WO2001063437A1
Application number: PCT/US2001/005929
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gordon Bennett
Original assignee: Web Data Corporation
Priority date: 2000-02-23
Filing date: 2001-02-23
Publication date: 2001-08-30
Also published as: AU2001238676A1

Abstract

A system for conducting transactions (134) online that enables a website owner to charge, or pay, an internet user a fee for access to pages on their website or services or products offered on the website. Consumers (102) may access the website and have their accounts (130) debited or credited in an anonymous and transparent manner.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING TRANSPARENT AND ANONYMOUS TRANSACTIONS FOR THE INTERNET

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to on-line transactions between internet users and website owners.

Many newspapers and scientific and research organizations host subscription sites on the Internet. Unlike most sites, which are freely available, these subscriptions sites charge subscribers a fee for visiting the web pages that constitute their site. These fees may be charged periodically, e.g., monthly or yearly, and may be significant. Typically, subscribers may access the site freely during the subscription period by providing a registered user name and password.

The subscription fees charged by these sites may put off casual visitors who rarely need access to the site. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a system that enables users to access a site on a per- visit and/or per-page basis and in a manner that is neither complicated nor time consuming.

SUMMARY

In an embodiment of the invention, a website owner (provider) may charge, or pay, an internet user (consumer) a fee for access to pages on their website, or services or products offered on the website. The provider registers URLs from pages in the website with a registry. Each provider URL is assigned a unique identify that is combined with a URL that points to the registry. Consumers trying to access pages with registered URLs are directed to the registry. If the consumer has an active account, an access fee is deducted from the consumer account and the consumer is directed to the requested page. The access fee is then credited to the provider's account, minus any transaction fees charged by the registry.

A consumer may choose to employ transparent transactions, which eliminate any interruption when moving from one page to another, or active transactions, which inform the consumer of the price for a selected page before it is visited. The consumer may track his or her account balance throughout a browsing session without interruption. Additionally, the consumer may choose to conduct transactions anonymously, or may elect to give the provider access to a range of personal and demographic information. The provider may automatically make prices available to the consumer without physically altering the consumer's view of the pages. The provider may also charge different prices for the same page or content under varying conditions, such as time of day or type of consumer. Both the consumer and the provider have direct, secure control over their accounts. Both consumer and provider may make deposits and withdrawals from their account and view their account transaction history on-line. The consumer may set options for their accounts to alert them to excessive page prices and low account balances. The provider may retrieve a variety of reports on visitors to their sites, including demographic profiles of their visitors, and personal consumer information if authorized by the visitors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating a networked computer system according to an embodiment of the invention. Figures 2A and 2B are flowcharts that describe a transaction operation according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary display screen including transaction status bars according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 illustrates schematically a networked computer system 100 according to an embodiment of the invention. Internet users (consumers) 102 and website owners (providers) 104 establish accounts with a registry 106 over the Internet 108. A provider may charge, or pay, a consumer a fee for access to content on their website. The content includes digital information in any form, for example, a web (e.g., HTML) page or pages, a compressed digital file including image, video, and/or audio information, text file or files for download, or a transaction receipt from an online shopping cart page for the purchase of a product, service, or subscription offered on the website. The registry may also maintain account balances, accept deposits, allow withdrawals, provide payments and refunds, and provide both parties access to permissible historical account information.

The registry contains databases that include information on participating consumers and providers, along with their respective account information and historical activity. The registry also contains a database of Universal Resource Locators (URLs) belonging to each provider, indicating the pricing and access expiration date/time of each consumer visit to the URL.

The provider 104 may set any value, including a fraction of a penny, on the content of a destination web page by registering each page's URL together with a corresponding price and access expiration information with the registry 106. The page URLs, prices, and expiration information are saved in databases 110, 112, and 114, respectively, at the registry 106.

Each registered URL is assigned a unique identifier, which is used to look up the destination URL when a consumer requests a destination page. The provider replaces its existing link URLs with URLs that point to the registry and contain the unique identifier for each destination page. An example of a URL might be: http .7/www.mycompany. com/myinformation/mypage.htm This could be replaced with: http://www.registrysite.com/validatepage.asp ?URLid=234987, where "234987" is the unique identifier.

Dynamically created URLs, i.e. those with dynamic parameters, which may change based upon consumer selection or other criteria specific to the provider's site, are modified differently, but provide the registry with the required information for processing and forwarding to the destination page. An example of a dynamic URL might be: http://www.mycompany.com/mypage.htm?mycustomerid=100

This may be rendered (on a single line) as: http ://www .registrysite.com/dynamicvalidate. asp?URLid=3345671 &

URL= http://www.mycompany.com mypage.htm?mycustomerid=l 00 From either of these URLs, the unique identifier is parsed to conduct a transaction and a consumer may be forwarded to the required destination without disrupting the provider's site requirements.

Once the provider's URLs are registered, they may be tested for accuracy and any necessary modifications may be made. The provider may then request a file from the registry, which, when included in their web pages, will enable a dynamic change of their URLs to point to the registry. This file leaves their URLs intact on the page, but redirects the consumer to the registry with the appropriate unique identifier for the destination page. Alternatively, the provider may employ traditional editing methods to replace their URLs with ones pointing to the registry and including the unique identifier for each URL. As an alternative to modifying existing links in their web-site pages, the providers may include any of their context index pages a reference to a dynamic URL generator 116, hosted by the registry, which dynamically changes the URLs on the provider's page to redirect the consumer to the registry, where the transaction takes place as previously described and the consumer's browser is returned to the destination page. This method eliminates the need to physically change existing URLs on the provider's site.

Provider account information may be stored in an accounts database 120 at the registry. The provider may be required to place a deposit and maintain a minimum balance in the provider's accounts to allow for payments to the consumer. These payments may be offers to pay the consumer to visit a site or to download files, or refunds in the event of a consumer complaint. Once an account is established, the provider may register as many URLs as they wish. They may add URLs at any time, and edit, or make inactive, previously registered URLs. In one implementation, the provider submits the full path of the URL, its pricing, its access expiration, and a brief description and categorization of the page contents when registering a URL. The brief description and categorization information may be used as the basis of a precise search mechanism that may be provided by the registry 106.

The registry may contact the provider, e.g., by email, if the providers account balance falls below a prescribed operating amount. The registry 106 may choose not to charge consumers for access to the provider's content if the provider's account balance falls below the prescribed minimum balance. Alternatively, the provider's registered URLs may be rendered inactive in the registry.

Figures 2A and 2B illustrate a transaction operation 200 according to an embodiment of the invention. The user 102 accesses the provider site (block 202) and requests a page that is registered with the registry 106 (block 204). The registry then determines if the user has an existing account (block 206), for example, by searching for an appropriate cookie on the consumer's hard disk.

If the consumer does not have an account with the Registry for use with participating the provider, a page from the registry appears informing the consumer that a fee is required for the requested page. The consumer has the option to go back to the provider site, or to continue and set up an account (block 208).

When establishing an account, the consumer may decide upon a method of payment for deposits and withdrawals. This payment method may include credit card debits and credits, check or money order payments, or direct debit and credit to an account at a financial institution 150 via an electronic funds transfer. The consumer's account information, including, e.g., balance and credit card number or account number for electronic funds transfers, are stored in an accounts database 130 at the registry.

The consumer may set a maximum page price alert, which is an amount that, if exceeded by a provider's destination page or activity fee, triggers a warning page from the registry informing the consumer of the provider's fee. The consumer may set a minimum account balance alert, which is an amount that triggers a warning page from the registry informing the consumer that his or her account balance is low and may require a deposit. Once the account is established and a deposit has been made, e.g., by means of a credit card transaction, the consumer may continue to the requested page. The registry may charge an account set-up fee during the account set-up process and inform the consumer of his current balance before continuing to the destination page. At this point, the registry accesses the consumer's account (block 210) and a transaction occurs which debits the consumer account and credits the provider account in the amount of the fee for the destination page, less a transaction fee charged by the registry.

If the consumer has an account, but his account balance has fallen below a pre-set limit determined by the consumer during the setup or maintenance of his or her account (block 212), a page from the registry appears informing the consumer of his account balance, and suggests that a deposit be made to increase the current balance (block 214). The consumer may then cancel his request and return to the provider site or choose to ignore the prompt and continue to the destination page, thereby incurring a transaction fee against his account. Alternatively, the consumer may make a deposit and then continue to the destination page. If the fee for a requested page exceeds the maximum page price set by the consumer during the establishment or maintenance of his account (block 216), the consumer is alerted with a page indicating that the price of the requested page exceeds that limit. The consumer may then choose to cancel the request, return to the provider site, or ignore the warning and continue to the destination page, thereby incurring a transaction against his account.

If a page has a fee that is less than the consumer's current balance and is less than the maximum page price, the fee for the page is debited from the consumer's account (block 220), and the consumer is directed to the requested page without interruption (block 222). The debited page fee is then credited or deposited into the provider's account (block 224), minus any transaction fee charged by the registry, which amount is credited or deposited into the registry's account (block 226).

The entire process for a registered consumer is transparent to the consumer. The consumer merely clicks on a link to a page and it is downloaded by his browser. This entire process may take approximately 500 milliseconds over a cable modem, the majority of which time is spent loading the destination page in the consumer's browser.

Personal consumer information may be required to open an account. This personal information may include, for example, the consumer's name, billing and shipping addresses, phone, fax, and email address. Additionally, the consumer may be required to fill out demographic information such as age, gender, marital status, occupation, income, and education. The consumers' personal and demographic information are stored in a database 132 at the registry.

Upon authorization by the consumer, the consumer's demographic information may be made freely available to the provider. If the consumer has not authorized the transmittal of personal demographic information, this demographic information may be transmitted to the provider in aggregate form.

Consumers may make their transactions anonymously. The consumer may set a flag that either allows the provider to view that consumer's personal information or prevent the provider from doing so. The consumer may change this flag for each site visited, giving the consumer the flexibility to accept contact from any provider while maintaining a general status of anonymity. The consumer, therefore, remains anonymous unless they choose to make their personal information available to the provider.

The division of personal and demographic information allows the consumer to remain anonymous, while giving the provider valuable information. It is up to the provider to encourage the consumer to make their personal information such as name, address and email address available to them. For example, the provider may offer price incentives to the consumers for exposing their personal information. Providers may include an option on their sites that enable consumers using anonymous transactions to expose their personal information for that visit only and/or to that site only. Historical information regarding consumer transactions may be stored in a transaction database 134 at the registry. The registry may provide the consumer reports from information in the registry's databases. These reports may indicate the consumer's expenditures (over a period of time) and identify which sites they visited. These reports may be sorted by URL, date, price or provider. The consumer may also review and modify their account status, and view a history of deposits and withdrawals.

The registry may also provide the provider reports from information in the registry's database. The reports may indicate the number of consumers that visited their site (over a period of time), which pages were visited at which times, what fees were paid or charged, and what demographic profiles are represented by their site visitors. They may also request reports listing consumer contact and demographic information wherever permitted by the consumer.

The relationship between the consumer and the provider may be a client-server or a peer-to-peer relationship. In the latter case, an individual may register files stored on the hard drive of his or her computer, for example, image, text, video and/or audio files, with the registry. The individual may then receive a fee each time one of the registered files is accessed.

Due to the scale of the Internet and the potential number of providers and consumers, it may be desirable to provide multiple registries. According to one embodiment of the invention, in the case when Provider A and Consumer A are in one database at Registry A, and Provider B and Consumer B in another database at Registry B, and Consumer B accesses a page from Provider A, the transaction(s) may be held in database B until some predetermined time, at which time Registries A and B reconcile all transactions from "foreign" consumers. Funds for these foreign transactions may be made available to the appropriate providers the next day.

The invention can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations of them. Apparatus of the invention can be implemented in a computer program product tangibly embodied in a machine- readable storage device for execution by a programmable processor; and method steps of the invention can be performed by a programmable processor executing a program of instructions to perform functions of the invention by operating on input data and generating output. The invention can be implemented advantageously in one or more computer programs that are executable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a data storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device. Each computer program can be implemented in a high-level procedural or object-oriented programming language, or in assembly or machine language if desired; and in any case, the language can be a compiled or interpreted language. Suitable processors include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors. Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a readonly memory and/or a random access memory. Generally, a computer will include one or more mass storage devices for storing data files; such devices include magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and optical disks. Storage devices suitable for tangibly embodying computer program instructions and data include all forms of non- volatile memory, including byway of example semiconductor memory devices, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM disks. Any of the foregoing can be supplemented by, or incorporated in, ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits).

To provide for interaction with a user, the invention can be implemented on a computer system having a display device such as a monitor or LCD screen for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device such as a mouse or a trackball by which the user can provide input to the computer system. The computer system can be programmed to provide a graphical user interface through which computer programs interact with users.

The invention has been described in terms of particular implementations and uses. Other implementations and uses are within the scope of the following claims. For example, steps of the invention can be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results. Also, the consumer may access the Internet via a number of Internet devices, including, for example, a personal computer, television set-top box, or wireless devices such as a cellular phone or palm pilot.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED

1. A method for conducting transactions over a networked computer system, comprising: storing a plurality of provider URLs; assigning each provider URL an associated registry URL; creating a consumer account with funds; receiving a consumer request for a registry URL; debiting the consumer account an access fee; downloading an electronic file identified by the provider URL that is associated with the requested registry URL.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein debiting the access fee comprises debiting a provider access fee and a transaction fee.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: creating a provider account; creating a registry account; crediting the provider access fee to the provider account; and crediting the transaction fee to the registry account.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein assigning the registry URLs comprises: generating a unique identifier for a provider URL; and combining the unique identifier and a base registry URL.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein debiting the consumer account comprises a credit card transaction.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein debiting the consumer account comprises an electronic funds transfer.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic file comprises a web page.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic file comprises a digital file including at least one of image, text, video, and audio information.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic file comprises an electronic transaction receipt for a purchase.

10. A computer program product, tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium, for conducting transactions over a networked computer system, the product comprising instructions operable to cause a programmable processor to: store a plurality of provider URLs; assign each provider URL an associated registry URL; create a consumer account with funds; receive a consumer request for a registry URL; debit the consumer account an access fee; download an electronic file having the provider URL associated with the requested registry URL.

11. The product of claim 10, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to debit the access fee comprise instructions that cause the processor to debit a provider access fee and a transaction fee.

12. The product of claim 11, further comprising instructions operable to cause the processor to: create a provider account; create a registry account; credit the provider access fee to the provider account; and credit the transaction fee to the registry account.

13. The product of claim 10, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to assign the registry URLs comprise instructions that cause the processor to: generate a unique identifier for a provider URL; and combine the unique identifier to a base registry URL.

14. The product of claim 10, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to debit the consumer account comprise instructions that cause the processor to process a credit card transaction.

15. The product of claim 10, wherein the instructions that cause the processor to debit the consumer account comprise instructions that cause the processor to process an electronic funds transfer.

16. The product of claim 10, wherein the electronic file comprises a web page.

17. The product of claim 10, wherein the electronic file comprises a digital file including at least one of image, text, video, and audio information.

18. The product of claim 10, wherein the electronic file comprises an electronic transaction receipt for a purchase.