U.S. patent application number 09/223161 was filed with the patent office on 2001-06-14 for method and apparatus for internet co-browsing over cable television and controlled through computer telephony.
Invention is credited to CRANDALL, EVAN STEPHEN, FERNSTEDT, ANDERS, GREENSPAN, STEPHEN LLOYD, WEIMER, DAVID M.
Application Number | 20010003523 09/223161 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 22835311 |
Filed Date | 2001-06-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20010003523 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
CRANDALL, EVAN STEPHEN ; et
al. |
June 14, 2001 |
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INTERNET CO-BROWSING OVER CABLE TELEVISION
AND CONTROLLED THROUGH COMPUTER TELEPHONY
Abstract
A novel mechanism is disclosed by which a sender can direct
information such as an audiovisual signal to a particular
recipient's audiovisual display device, such as a cable television
set and, thereby, share information between the sender and the
recipient. In one embodiment of the invention, a calling party
originates a telephone call and associates that telephone call with
audio-visual information that exists on the caller's personal
computer or on an Internet server. The called party answers the
call, and can tune an associated cable television to the
appropriate channel in order to view the audiovisual information.
The caller can modify the audio-visual information during the call.
Accordingly, the current invention ties together the telephone,
cable, and IP networks in a manner that does not require large
investments from cable or telephone service providers. In an
alternative embodiment of the invention, a called party, such as a
representative at a customer service center or an interactive voice
response unit, can associate audio-visual information with the call
such that the calling party can see the data on the appropriate
television channel. In another embodiment, the telephone keypad can
be used to move forwards and backwards through a series of
audio-visual screens. In another embodiment, the cable subscriber
can preset the television to a particular URL which can be viewed,
but not navigated, without the telephone call.
Inventors: |
CRANDALL, EVAN STEPHEN;
(BASKING RIDGE, NJ) ; FERNSTEDT, ANDERS; (HOBOKEN,
NJ) ; GREENSPAN, STEPHEN LLOYD; (SCOTCH PLAINS,
NJ) ; WEIMER, DAVID M; (ABERDEEN, NJ) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SAMUEL H DWORETSKY
AT&T CORP
P O BOX 4110
MIDDLETOWN
NJ
077484801
|
Family ID: |
22835311 |
Appl. No.: |
09/223161 |
Filed: |
December 30, 1998 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
370/352 ;
370/401; 370/487 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M 7/1215 20130101;
H04L 12/5692 20130101; H04M 7/003 20130101; H04M 7/0036 20130101;
H04M 2207/14 20130101; H04L 12/2801 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
370/352 ;
370/401; 370/487 |
International
Class: |
H04L 012/56; H04L
012/66 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method of sharing information between a sender with access to
a data network and a recipient's audiovisual display device
comprising the steps of: establishing a connection on a voice
communication network between the sender and the recipient;
associating the connection with information to be sent across the
data network to the recipient's audiovisual display device; and
initiating a broadcast of the information to the recipient's
audiovisual display device.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the recipient's reception of the
broadcast begins after the recipient authorizes the broadcast.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the recipient authorizes the
broadcast by remaining on the connection for a designated period of
time.
4. The method of claim 2 wherein the recipient authorizes the
broadcast by transmitting a signal across the voice communication
network.
5. The method of claim 2 wherein the recipient authorizes the
broadcast by transmitting a signal across the data network.
6. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of: receiving
input from the recipient or sender; changing the information
broadcast to the recipient's audiovisual display device based on
the input from the recipient or sender.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein the input is a signal transmitted
across the voice communication network.
8. The method of claim 6 wherein the input is a signal transmitted
across the data network.
9. The method of claim 7 wherein the signal is a DTMF signal.
10. The method of claim 7 wherein the signal is a voice
command.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein the sender is an automated
interactive response system.
12. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of ending the
broadcast of the information to the recipient's audiovisual display
device when the connection between the sender and the recipient
ends.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein the broadcast is ended by
overwriting the broadcast with a default transmission.
14. The method of claim 1 wherein the connection is established to
a plurality of recipients, each recipient with an audiovisual
display device capable of receiving the information broadcast.
15. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of storing
the broadcast of the information to the recipient's audiovisual
display device.
16. The method of claim 1 wherein the information is an audiovisual
signal.
17. The method of claim 1 wherein the information is a Web
page.
18. The method of claim 1 wherein the information is a
facsimile.
19. The method of claim 1 wherein the audiovisual display device is
a television set.
20. The method of claim 1 wherein the audiovisual display device is
a cable television set.
21. The method of claim 1 wherein the audiovisual display device is
a personal data assistant.
22. A computer readable medium containing executable program
instructions for sharing information between a sender with access
to a data network and a recipient's audiovisual display device
comprising: means for receiving notification that a connection has
been established between the recipient and the sender on a voice
communication network; means for receiving from the sender a
designation of information associated with the connection; and
means for initiating the broadcast of the information to the
recipient's audiovisual display device.
23. The computer readable medium of claim 22 further comprising
means for initiating the connection on the voice communication
network.
24. The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein the broadcast
is initiated by sending a signal to a server attached to the data
network and capable of broadcasting the information to the
recipient's audiovisual display device.
25. The computer readable medium of claim 22 further comprising
means for receiving the recipient's authorization for
broadcast.
26. The computer readable medium of claim 25 wherein the recipient
authorizes the broadcast by remaining on the connection for a
designated period of time.
27. The computer readable medium of claim 25 wherein the recipient
authorizes the broadcast by transmitting a signal across the voice
communication network.
28. The computer readable medium of claim 25 wherein the recipient
authorizes the broadcast by transmitting a signal across the data
network.
29. The computer readable medium of claim 22 further comprising
means for ending the broadcast of the information to the
recipient's audiovisual display device when the connection between
the sender and the recipient ends.
30. The computer readable medium of claim 29 wherein the
broadcast-ending means further comprises means for overwriting the
broadcast with a default transmission.
31. The computer readable medium of claim 22 further comprising
means for storing the broadcast of the information to the
recipient's audiovisual display device.
32. The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein the
information is an audiovisual signal.
33. The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein the
information is a Web page.
34. The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein the
designation of information is a URL.
35. The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein the
information is a facsimile.
36. The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein the
audiovisual display device is a television set.
37. The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein the
audiovisual display device is a cable television set.
38. The computer readable medium of claim 22 wherein the
audiovisual display device is a personal data assistant.
39. A computer readable medium containing executable program
instructions for sharing information between a sender with access
to a data network and a recipient's audiovisual display device
comprising: means for designating information to be broadcast to
the recipient's audiovisual display device; means for associating
the information with a connection to be established across a voice
communication network with the recipient; and means for sending the
designation of information to a server capable of initiating the
broadcast.
40. The computer readable medium of claim 39 further comprising:
means for receiving input from the recipient; means for changing
the information to be broadcast to the recipient's audiovisual
display device based on the input from the recipient.
41. The computer readable medium of claim 40 wherein the
recipient's input is a signal transmitted across the voice
communication network.
42. The computer readable medium of claim 41 wherein the signal is
a DTMF signal.
43. The computer readable medium of claim 41 wherein the signal is
a voice command.
44. The computer readable medium of claim 40 wherein the
recipient's input is a signal transmitted across the data
network.
45. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the sender is
an automated interactive response system.
46. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the connection
is established to a plurality of recipients, each recipient with an
audiovisual display device capable of receiving the information
broadcast.
47. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the
information is an audiovisual signal.
48. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the
information is a Web page.
49. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the
designation of information is a URL.
50. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the
information is a facsimile.
51. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the
audiovisual display device is a television set.
52. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the
audiovisual display device is a cable television set.
53. The computer readable medium of claim 39 wherein the
audiovisual display device is a personal data assistant.
54. An apparatus comprising: means for receiving information
broadcast on a data network and associated with a connection
between a sender and a recipient on a voice communication network;
means for identifying that a broadcast is directed to the recipient
and for decoding that broadcast; means for rejecting broadcasts not
intended for the recipient; and means for transmitting the
information to an audiovisual display device.
55. The apparatus of claim 54 further comprising means for
receiving notification that the recipient authorizes the
broadcast.
56. The apparatus of claim 54 further comprising means for storing
the information broadcast to the audiovisual display device.
57. The apparatus of claim 54 further comprising means for printing
the information broadcast to the audiovisual display device.
58. The apparatus of claim 54 further comprising means for
forwarding the information to another audiovisual display
device.
59. The apparatus of claim 54 further comprising means for ending
the transmission of the information to the recipient's audiovisual
display device by overwriting the broadcast with a default
transmission.
60. The apparatus of claim 54 wherein the information is an
audiovisual signal.
61. The apparatus of claim 54 wherein the information is a Web
page.
62. The apparatus of claim 54 wherein the information is a
facsimile.
63. The apparatus of claim 54 wherein the audiovisual display
device is a television set.
64. The apparatus of claim 54 wherein the audiovisual display
device is a cable television set.
65. The apparatus of claim 54 wherein the audiovisual display
device is a personal data assistant.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to television systems and
computer systems and, more particularly, to systems for sharing
information between the two.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] With the pervasive presence of voice communication devices,
there is also a common need to share visual information as well.
Many consumers have expressed the need to share family photographs
with others, as is evidenced in part by the rapid adoption of
digitized photography and photo album software. Likewise, many
customers find voice-only interactions with businesses wanting, as
evidenced in part by the rapid growth in visually-oriented
web-based customer support. An early alternative to voice telephony
has been video telephony. Video telephony allows telephone calls in
which both caller and calling party can see each other via a visual
display. The visual display and camera needed at each end of the
call might be attached to the phone, to a PC, or to a television.
The slow adoption of this form of communication is partly due to
the need codiffusion of the technology (i.e. both parties need
similar equipment), the expense and difficulty of managing the
technology, and the lack of interest by many consumers.
[0003] The rapid development of the World Wide Web and the Internet
has provided alternative avenues of sharing information. For
example, IP (Internet Protocol) cobrowsing is a process that allows
users to control web browsing on their personal computers (PCs) and
on PCs operated by other PC users. Thus, the uniform resource
locator (URL) displayed in one browser is also displayed on another
browser. Depending on the application, control might be symmetric
(shared by both users) or asymmetric (controlled by only one user).
Other collaborative PC applications allow multiple users to
simultaneously control the viewing and editing of the same
document. In order to use the above methods of sharing web browsing
and other applications, however, both users are obviously required
to have access to a PC. Most households in the U.S. do not have
PCs. PCs currently have a market penetration of roughly forty
percent of U.S. households, and far fewer use such PCs for web
browsing (though they may use the Internet from work).
[0004] On the other hand, approximately 65% of U.S. households
subscribe to cable television and cable networks can be easily
accessed by over 90% of U.S. households. Methods currently exist
that allow a television set to be used as a web browser to access
the Internet, e.g. WebTV. Such arrangements, however, rely on
upstream data paths either through a cable or telephone connection.
Navigating the World Wide Web requires a separate keyboard or a
specialized remote control. Moreover, the set top box required for
such arrangements tends to be costly and also tends to be difficult
to use by people who are not familiar with web browsers and URLs.
Accordingly, there are many people who would benefit from the
ability to see certain web sites occasionally without requiring the
need to browse on a regular basis. One example of such a person
would be a cable TV viewer who occasionally desires information
from a site such as Pointcast but otherwise is not interested in
web browsing or computer use. Another example is a personal
computer user who desires to send a graphic image to a person who
has access to only a cable TV, e.g. a PC-enabled family who wants
to send a picture of a newborn baby while simultaneously talking to
the faraway grandparents who only have access to cable TV and a
telephone line.
[0005] The discussion above suggests three recent market trends
that are relevant as background to the current invention: (1) the
slow growth of video telephony and WebTV; (2) the development and
growth of Internet-based cobrowsing techniques; and (3) the rapid
growth of methods that allow consumers to create digitized
photographs, store them in a personal computer, and share them via
the Internet with close friends and relatives. Accordingly, given
these three market trends, it would be advantageous to devise a
novel mechanism for directing data (such as an audiovisual signal)
across a data network (such as the Internet) to a particular cable
TV.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The present invention presents a novel mechanism by which a
sender can direct information such as an audiovisual signal to a
particular recipient's audiovisual display device, such as a cable
television set and, thereby, share information between the sender
and the recipient. In one embodiment of the invention, the calling
party originates a connection on a voice communication network,
e.g. a telephone call, and associates that telephone call with
audio-visual information that exists on the caller's computer or on
an Internet server. The called party answers the call, and can tune
an associated cable television to the appropriate channel in order
to view the audio-visual information. The caller can modify the
audio-visual information during the call. Accordingly, the current
invention ties together the telephone, cable, and IP networks in a
manner that does not require large investments from cable or
telephone service providers beyond what is already being invested
to support Internet-access with cable.
[0007] The key concept is the association between two otherwise
independent channels of information: one used for multi-way voice
and the other for data. Information in the setup instructions for
the multi-way voice-enabled channel is used to address the
recipients of data (who are also participants in the voice
conversation) and in-band signaling or an implicit criteria such as
duration of the conversation is used to grant permission to receive
data over the data channel. Notably, the conversation can continue
while the data is being transmitted.
[0008] In an alternative embodiment of the invention, a called
party, such as a representative at a customer service center or an
interactive voice response unit, can associate audio-visual
information with the call such that the calling party can see the
data on the appropriate television channel. In another embodiment,
the telephone keypad can be used to move forwards and backwards
through a series of audio-visual screens. In another embodiment,
the cable subscriber can preset the television to a particular URL
which can be viewed, but not navigated, without the telephone
call.
[0009] These and other aspects of the invention will become
apparent from the drawings and the detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram of a integrated
telephony/data/television system configured in accordance with an
embodiment of the invention.
[0011] FIG. 2 is an overall block diagram of a integrated
telephony/data/television system configured in accordance with
another embodiment of the invention.
[0012] FIG. 3 is a flowchart setting forth the sequence of steps
implementing one of the methods disclosed of sending an audiovisual
HTML document to a cable television associated with a telephone
number.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0013] A preferred embodiment of the present invention is disclosed
in the block diagram of FIG. 1. An Internet/online subscriber 110
with access to a "control" computer executing client software 120
and a telephone 115 wishes to communicate with a recipient who is a
community access television (CATV) subscriber 170 and who also has
a telephone 175. An integrated telephony/data/television network
130 connects the sender to the recipient. Known security and
encryption mechanisms can be incorporated into the signaling
protocols used to implement the present invention.
[0014] The control computer (which may be a personal computer or an
automated interactive server of some kind) may be connected to a
data network, which for purposes of illustration is a
connectionless packet-switched public data network (PDN) such as
the Internet. The sender's control computer is connected across the
data network to a server computer 150 which facilitates the
broadcast of the information to the recipient. The client software
120 illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises a computer program 121 which
permits the user to choose a recipient from an address book 122 and
dial a voice connection to the recipient by selecting button 123.
The client software 120 also comprises a computer program 125 that
operates like a World Wide Web browser. The user can choose
information to be transmitted to the recipient by inputting a file
name or URL in field 127. The information is displayed in window
128 and can be transmitted for broadcast by selecting button
126.
[0015] The telephones 115, 175 are connected to a voice
communication network 140. The telephones can be conventional voice
telephone sets with standard local loop connections to nodes within
respective local exchange carrier (LEC) networks and between which
conventional voice communication paths can be established through
an interexchange carrier and/or LEC network. The telephone network
may be a conventional connection-oriented telephone network, such
as the PSTN, or some other type of network such as an IP-based
network. Accordingly, the voice communication network can be
separate from the data network, or can be a part of the data
network. Regardless, control and authorization signal pathways 131
connect the networks and provide access to a database of subscriber
information 135 which includes information regarding the
recipient.
[0016] The recipient of the shared data 170 may be a CATV
subscriber with a conventional television set 180 connected to some
coaxial cable distribution network. In FIG. 1, the television 180
is shown connected through a set top box 185 to a cable head end
165 of the cable distribution network. The cable network can be
one-way (only a down stream broadcast path) or two-way cable (with
a return path). A portion of the bandwidth can be reserved for
entertainment channels from some downstream entertainment channel
source. The cable head end 165 is connected to an IP/cable gateway
160 which provides access to the data network. The cable head end
and the interface unit can be physically located in the same or
different locations. The digital signals from the Internet are
transformed into whatever type of signal utilized by the television
180 for display, e.g. the standard analog NTSC-modulated RF
carrier, an MPEG-compressed digital data stream, or any other
format. Regardless of form, specific television channels can be
allocated to the present invention or the spectrum devoted to IP
communication can be used.
[0017] The system permits the control computer to be used to (a)
set up a telephone call among two or more telephone sets, and (b)
for the duration of the telephone call, display audio-visual
material on the cable televisions owned by the called parties. In
one embodiment of the invention, the information sent to a
particular channel of the CATV subscriber's television is a
reformatted version of the content of a URL on the Internet/Cable
server and associated with the subscriber's telephone number.
Similarly, a direct data channel can be provided between the IP
gateway and the Internet-enabled cable head end so that a computer
attached to the Internet could directly send audio-visual signals
to a cable television using the Internet Protocol without
necessarily using HTML. Known software techniques for screen
sharing can be used to implement such a system.
[0018] With reference to FIG. 3, a flowchart is shown which sets
forth a sequence of steps implementing one of the methods disclosed
of sending an audiovisual HTML document to a cable television
associated with a telephone number. The steps disclosed are merely
exemplary and are not meant to limit the nature of the invention.
At step 301, a computer user, utilizing a conventional Internet
browser, first accesses a webpage dedicated to the instant
application. At step 302, the user invokes the application, which
may provide some login process to confirm identity.
[0019] At step 305, the user wishing to send the audiovisual HTML
document to a particular CATV subscriber is provided with a means
to download the HTML file to a specific network and subnetwork
address, e.g. a URL. This address is uniquely associated with the
CATV subscriber, e.g. the information sent to a particular channel
of the CATV subscriber's television is an NTSC version of the
address's content. An applet written in Java can be invoked that
displays the information residing at the URL to the user in a
window set to a television's aspect ratio. Scrolling in the window
can direct the scrolling of what is displayed on the television.
The HTML file, which exists on the user's computer is downloaded to
the cable subscriber's cable/internet server. Alternatively, the
computer user can be provided with means to redirect the above URL
to another URL, so that the HTML file displayed on the CATV
subscriber's television resides only on some other Web server.
Alternatively, screen sharing software can be utilized to send an
image displayed on the user's computer screen to the cable
subscriber's cable/internet server. Rather than an image, any other
type of data, such as audio-visual material, can be encoded, sent
through the Internet (or an intranet) and decoded to be broadcast
on the cable subscriber's television.
[0020] At step 310, the user can then initiate a telephone call to
the CATV subscriber. In a preferred embodiment of the invention,
the user utilizes an Internet-based telephonic connection service,
such as AT&T's Click-2-Dial. Such a service would permit the
user to input the calling number and the destination number, and
this information would then be transmitted across the data network
to a connection server which would establish a telephonic
connection to both the user and the destination. The user's
telephone would ring at step 311 and the CATV subscriber's
telephone would also ring at step 312. As both parties answer their
respective telephones, the connection server bridges the two
connections permitting the parties to communicate. The details of
such a process are set forth in co-pending commonly-assigned U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 09/038,149, to Bennett et al., filed on
Mar. 19, 1997.
[0021] After the TV subscriber answers the telephone call, a
version of the URL formatted for the subscriber's television is
broadcast on the designated CATV channel at step 320. As described
above, the signal can be any type of signal that may be utilized by
a television for video display, regardless of the form, including
the standard NTSC-modulated RF carrier, an MPEG-compressed digital
data stream, or any other format. The broadcast can commence
immediately, after a designated period of telephone connection time
(e.g. a minute), after the called party has explicitly accepted the
cable transmission (e.g. through touch tone), or after some other
condition has been met. Explicit acceptance could be accomplished
using the touch-tone keypad on the called party's telephone. The
calling and called parties can be permitted to interact with the
displayed material: either through the calling party's computer or
through the use of the touch tone keypad on either the called or
calling party's telephone. Thus, the visual display can be altered
at the direction of the cable TV viewer via the telephone
touch-tone. Scrolling of the CATV image could also be done via the
called party's television remote control.
[0022] The broadcast transmission to the subscriber's CATV can
continue until the phone call is disconnected. Likewise, the called
party can also be allowed to continue viewing the information after
the connection with the calling party has disconnected. An example
of such a system, after the voice communication connection has
ended, is shown in FIG. 2. The called party could continue to
interact with the World Wide Web and the web page even after the
calling party disconnects, for example, by using the telephone's
touch-tone.
[0023] The figures and the description above refer to cable
television, although the concept can be easily generalized to
practically any data service such as satellite TV, or MMDS
broadcast TV, or even digital radio. Similarly, the concept can be
generalized to allow data to be sent to any audiovisual display
device, e.g. the receiving party could be using a personal data
assistant and could receive the telephone call and then receive the
"pushed" data, as described above. For purposes of the present
invention, a personal data assistant can be any intelligent
consumer device including a personal computer which is manufactured
for Internet browsing or for IP reception. The device can be wired
or can be equipped for wireless reception from the network.
[0024] A second incoming call to the CATV subscriber attempting to
present audiovisual information would normally receive a "busy"
signal, unless the subscriber has call waiting. In such a case,
means can be provided which would cause a synchronized switching
between the respective audiovisual materials when the called party
switches between the telephone calls. Likewise, a call that is
forwarded would also allow the audio-visual information to be
forwarded to the cable TV of the receiving household or office.
Thus, the above service can be generalized to include CLASS
services and their business analogs, e.g. 3-way calling.
[0025] The above-mentioned Click-2-Dial permits Internet-based
telephonic conference calls. Similarly, each cable subscriber
connected using such an audio conference call feature can also,
using the above method, be allowed to simultaneously view the
displayed information on their cable televisions. Furthermore, the
above concept can be generalized to multiple Internet users, so
that a calling party can allow a called party to view particular
URLs on their own personal computers (not their cable television)
during, and only during, a telephone call (unless the image is
explicitly saved by the receiving party)--or during and after (but
not prior to) the call.
[0026] The basic infrastructure that is disclosed could support
many other third party applications as well as the above
illustrative application. For example, the cable subscriber can
originate the call to an interactive voice response system (IVR)
and instruct said system to allow viewing of specific audio-visual
material through the subscriber's cable television. One example
would be if a cable subscriber called directory assistance and used
the above method to view telephone directory listings, including
related advertisements or information. The directory listings could
be residential or commercial; they could represent a selection of
those listings most called or received by the subscribing
household, or the most recently called or received phone numbers by
the subscribing household. The subscriber could select one or
several listings and instruct the telephone network to complete a
call to the selected telephone numbers.
[0027] Therefore, as seen from this example, a request to send
information to the cable television of a telephone call participant
can be made whether or not the person issuing the request has a
computer or other IP-compliant device. Thus, either the calling or
called parties can issue a request to send information to the cable
TV by using any telephone device, e.g. a mobile phone. Moreover,
devices other than computers can be used to send information
through the Internet to the designated cable television. For
example, a fax machine can send a fax to an internet server which
translates the fax image into IP messages. Using the telephone
number supplied by the fax machine user, the IP messages are then
sent via the Internet to the cable head end associated with that
telephone number and, accordingly, to the appropriate cable
television.
[0028] Provision can be made in the customer premise equipment
(CPE) to store the audio-visual information for later recall by the
television subscriber, for printing or sending to a fax machine
during or after the call, or for forwarding to another television
subscriber via the above-described phone call mechanism. The stored
audio-visual information can be the actual image, or it can be a
URL address of the information. The receiving CPE can also be
configured to receive control information from the sender of the
information. This control information can be used to restrict the
storage of the information at the receiver's premises and thereby
protect intellectual property rights. Restrictions could be
enforced forbidding the storage of any of the information,
permitting only the URL to be stored, permitting only received
image to be stored, or permitting the storage for later viewing but
forbidding the printing, faxing, or retransmission to another
device. Except for industry-wide solutions, there is currently no
way to prevent a television subscriber from video-taping the
received signal. The communications industry, however, is currently
working on devices that restrict the taping of pay-per-view
television, and such technology can be adopted in the above
invention to further prevent illegal copying.
[0029] It is to be understood that the above embodiments and their
variations are not mutually exclusive but can be combined in
various ways to provide a service offering for a subscriber
customer. Moreover, variations and modifications to the
above-described preferred embodiment will be apparent to one
skilled in the art that are also within the spirit and scope of the
invention as set forth in the claims below.
* * * * *