U.S. patent application number 10/196321 was filed with the patent office on 2003-01-16 for method and apparatus for offering digital content for sale over a communications network.
Invention is credited to Lindner, Stephan.
Application Number | 20030014328 10/196321 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 7649215 |
Filed Date | 2003-01-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030014328 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lindner, Stephan |
January 16, 2003 |
Method and apparatus for offering digital content for sale over a
communications network
Abstract
Content in digital form like pictures, music files, videos,
software etc. from a plurality of content providers (110) is sold
to a plurality of users (130) over a communication network like the
internet. The content provider submits to a service provider (100)
information about the content to be sold and the service provider
provides controlled user access to the content for sale under the
conditions defined by the information submitted by the content
provider. Purchase data about sold items are stored and the user
authentification and payment process for all content providers is
carried out centrally through a payment system (120) thus offering
low transaction costs.
Inventors: |
Lindner, Stephan;
(Loewenberg, DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Erwin J. Basinski
Morrison & Foerster LLP
425 Market Street
San Francisco
CA
94105-2482
US
|
Family ID: |
7649215 |
Appl. No.: |
10/196321 |
Filed: |
July 15, 2002 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
705/26.2 ;
705/27.1; 725/5; 725/61 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/06 20130101;
G06Q 30/0605 20130101; G06Q 30/0641 20130101; G06Q 20/204
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/26 ; 725/5;
725/61 |
International
Class: |
H04N 007/16; G06F
017/60; G06F 003/00; H04N 005/445; G06F 013/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 16, 2001 |
PCT/EP01/08201 |
Claims
1. A method of offering digital content for sale over a
communication network, comprising: receiving from a plurality of
registered content providers (110) sales information about content
which the content providers intend to offer for sale, providing,
through a service provider (100) and an electronic payment system,
controlled user access to the content for sale over the
communications network under conditions defined by the sales
information from the content provider, detecting and storing
purchase data about content purchased by a user, and distributing
sales revenues among the plurality of content providers based on
the purchase data.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising a content provider
registration process including assigning the content provider a
user name and password for enabling content transfer from the
content provider to the service provider.
3. The method of claim 2 further comprising a content provider
deregistration process restoring the original state of the file
system of the content provider.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising a content designation
process for designating content for sale over the internet, the
content designation process including: scanning a web site of the
content provider, displaying content files found during scanning,
and selecting content files for sale.
5. The method of claim 4 wherein the content designation process
includes analyzing and displaying the different file types included
in the web site of the content provider.
6. The method of claim 4 wherein the content designation process
includes analyzing and displaying for selection the directories of
the web site of the content provider where content for sale is
stored.
7. The method of claim 4 wherein the content designation process
includes identifying the catalogue file where the content for sale
is linked to.
8. The method of claim 4 wherein the content designation process
includes inputting sales information in a table format.
9. The method of claim 4 wherein the content designation process
includes inputting sales information as a text document.
10. The method of claim 4 wherein the content designation process
comprises displaying a user interface for entering sales
information about the content for sale.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein the sales information includes a
time period for sale and a sales price.
12. The method of claim 10 wherein the sales information includes
additional comments about the content on sale.
13. The method of claim 1 further comprising a content setup
process including moving designated content on a web site of the
content provider to a protected area (106) and replacing the
content files on the content provider web site by dummy files
having the same file name.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the content setup process
comprises providing a link from the service provider (100) to the
content file in the protected area enabling user access to the
designated content after user authentification.
15. The method of claim 14 wherein the user authentification is
carried out through an electronic payment system.
16. The method of claim 13 wherein the content setup process
comprises an automatic consistency checking procedure of the
designated content.
17. The method of claim 13 further comprising an automatic content
update process automatically replacing content files in the
protected area by the corresponding files from the content provider
if the content files of the content provider have a younger time
stamp.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein the update process comprises
replacing an incomplete content file in the protected area by the
complete file including the designated content if the same is
available at the content provider.
19. The method of claim 1 further comprising a reporting process
sending information about sold content from the service provider to
the content provider based on the stored purchase data.
20. The method of claim 1 wherein the service provider is a web
hosting service provider.
21. The method of claim 1 wherein the digital content includes
pictures, music (MP3 files), software, moving pictures, text
information, technical advice and/or addresses.
22. A computer system for offering content for sale over a computer
network comprising: a content provider interface (101) for
receiving from a plurality of registered content providers (110)
sales information about a content which the content providers
intend to offer for sale, a storage unit (104) for storing the
received content for sale, a user interface (102), for providing,
through an electronic payment system (120) controlled user access
to the stored content for sale over the communications network
under conditions defined by the sales information from the consent
provider, a further storage unit (104) for storing purchase data
about content purchased by a user, and a processing unit (107) for
distributing the sales revenues among the plurality of content
providers based on the purchase data.
23. The computer system of claim 22 wherein the content provider
interface is adapted for displaying on a display unit a
predetermined display document for entering content sales
information by the content provider (110).
24. The computer system of claim 23 wherein the content sales
information includes a period of sale and a sales price.
25. The computer system of claim 23 wherein the content sales
information includes text data containing information about a
particular item of a content on sale.
26. The computer system of claim 22 wherein the content provider
interface (101) is adapted for scanning a web site of the content
provider, displaying available content files, their file types and
the directories in which they are stored.
27. The computer system of claim 22 wherein the content provider
interface is adapted for transferring content sales information
from the content provider to the service provider as a table or a
text document.
28. The computer system of one claims 22 wherein the storage unit
(104) comprises a protected area (106) allowing a user access to
the content after completing a payment transaction.
29. The computer system of claim 28 wherein the electronic payment
system (120) is adapted for carrying out the payment
transaction.
30. The computer system of claim 22 comprising means for
automatically replacing content files on sale by the corresponding
updated content files of the content provider.
31. The computer system of claim 22 comprising processing means
(107) for calculating the sales revenues generated by every item of
the content on sale.
32. The computer system of claim 22 comprising means for restoring
the original state of a file system of a content provider.
33. The computer system of claim 22 wherein the digital content
includes pictures, music (MP3 files), software, moving pictures,
text information, technical advice and contact addresses.
34. A computer program product comprising executable code for:
receiving from a plurality of registered content providers (110)
sales information about content which the content providers intend
to offer for sale, providing, through a service provider (100) and
an electronic payment system (120), controlled user access to the
content for sale over the communications network under conditions
defined by the sales information from the content provider,
detecting and storing purchase data about content purchased by a
user, and distributing sales revenues among the plurality of
content providers based on the purchase data.
35. The method of claim 4 further comprising a content provider
deregistration process restoring the original state of the file
system of the content provider.
36. The method of claim 13 further comprising a content provider
deregistration process restoring the original state of the file
system of the content provider.
37. The method of claim 19 further comprising a content provider
deregistration process restoring the original state of the file
system of the content provider.
38. The method of claim 2 further comprising a content designation
process for designating content for sale over the internet, the
content designation process including: scanning a web site of the
content provider, displaying content files found during scanning,
and selecting content files for sale.
39. The method of claim 5 wherein the content designation process
includes analyzing and displaying for selection the directories of
the web site of the content provider where content for sale is
stored.
40. The method of claim 4 further comprising a content setup
process including moving designated content on a web site of the
content provider to a protected area (106) and replacing the
content files on the content provider web site by dummy files
having the same file name.
41. The method of claim 6 further comprising a content setup
process including moving designated content on a web site of the
content provider to a protected area (106) and replacing the
content files on the content provider web site by dummy files
having the same file name.
42. The method of claim 40 wherein the content setup process
comprises providing a link from the service provider (100) to the
content file in the protected area enabling user access to the
designated content after user authentification.
43. The method of claim 41 wherein the content setup process
comprises providing a link from the service provider (100) to the
content file in the protected area enabling user access to the
designated content after user authentification.
44. The method of claim 14 further comprising an automatic content
update process automatically replacing content files in the
protected area by the corresponding files from the content provider
if the content files of the content provider have a younger time
stamp.
45. The method of claim 17 further comprising a reporting process
sending information about sold content from the service provider to
the content provider based on the stored purchase data.
46. The method of claim 4 wherein the digital content includes
pictures, music (MP3 files), software, moving pictures, text
information, technical advice and/or addresses.
47. The method of claim 13 wherein the digital content includes
pictures, music (MP3 files), software, moving pictures, text
information, technical advice and/or addresses.
48. The method of claim 19 wherein the digital content includes
pictures, music (MP3 files), software, moving pictures, text
information, technical advice and/or addresses.
49. The computer system of claim 26 wherein the content provider
interface is adapted for transferring content sales information
from the content provider to the service provider as a table or a
text document.
50. The computer system of one claims 27 wherein the storage unit
(104) comprises a protected area (106) allowing a user access to
the content after completing a payment transaction.
51. The computer system of claim 29 comprising means for
automatically replacing content files on sale by the corresponding
updated content files of the content provider.
52. The computer system of claim 30 comprising processing means
(107) for calculating the sales revenues generated by every item of
the content on sale.
53. The computer system of claim 31 comprising means for restoring
the original state of a file system of a content provider.
54. The computer system of claim 31 wherein the digital content
includes pictures, music (MP3 files), software, moving pictures,
text information, technical advice and contact addresses.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of the German patent
application DE 10034734.7, filed on Jul. 17, 2000, titled
"Web-basierte, automatisierte Schnitt-stelle zwischen
Informationsanbietern und einem Electronic Payment Provider".
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for
offering digital content like pictures, music files, software
programs, technical information or contact addresses for sale over
a communication network, in particular the internet.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
[0003] The internet is an ideal medium for offering digital content
like music, digitized pictures, news like sports results or share
prices etc. to a large number of potential customers. A very
frequently used way to "pay" for content on the web is the use of
advertising banners. This source of revenue, however, is in the
most cases restricted to rather large content providers.
[0004] Another possibility to charge for content provided over the
internet are electronic payment systems (ePS) which handle the
payment of small amounts of money by aggregating small payments
over a time first (so-called micro-payments) with contract partners
like Credit Card companies. For this purpose the software of the
electronic payment system like Qpass.TM. or Cybercash.TM. has to be
integrated into the web site of the content provider. This requires
a lot of configuration and programming work and is therefore
expensive. For this reason small content providers like small
companies or private persons cannot afford to offer their content
for sale on the internet.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] An implementation of the present invention provides a method
of offering content for sale over a communications network,
comprising: receiving from a plurality of registered content
providers sales information about content which the content
provider intends to offer for sale, providing, through a web
hosting service provider and an electronic Payment System,
controlled user access to the content for sale over the
communications network under conditions defined by the sales
information from the content provider, detecting, customizing and
storing content provider specific data about the content for sale
to a user, and processing payment received from the ePS for the
user purchases for the plurality of content providers.
[0006] The processing of payments for sold content for a plurality
of content providers is carried out by the web-hosting service
provider together with a suitable electronic payment system
(Micropayment). The distribution of the earnings to the respective
content providers is then performed in regular time intervals, for
example once a month. Usage of Micropayment allows for payment
processing to substantially reduce the costs of an online
transaction for small content providers, while the usage of the
present invention will further reduce costs by avoiding programming
skills and therefore costs. This combination will allow small
content providers to enter the market
[0007] Moreover, the present invention provides a content provider
with the possibility to offer its content for sale on the internet
without requiring programming work. After registration the content
provider only needs to enter some information about the content
through an electronic information input form or the like and within
a short time can sell its content over the internet.
[0008] The method according to the present invention may comprise a
content provider registration process including assigning the
content provider a user name and password. Using this user name and
password the update of content or provision of new content can then
be performed ensuring complete privacy of the information entered
to enable the sales process.
[0009] The method according to the present invention preferably
comprises a content designation procedure for designating the
content for sale on the internet and including scanning a web site
of the content provider, displaying content files found during
scanning, and selecting the content files for sale. With this
content designation process the selection of files for online sale
can be accomplished very easily based on a display of the files of
the web site of the content provider which could be sold on the
internet.
[0010] Sales information like a time period where the digital
content can be retrieved by the customer or the sales price may be
entered interactively to a user interface. Additional comments like
short descriptions of the items on sale may be added.
[0011] The content designation process preferably includes
selecting different file types for sale, selecting directories
where content for sale is stored and selecting a catalogue file
with references to the content what will be setup for sale.
[0012] The sales information may alternatively be input as a text
document or as a table to allow an experienced user more
convenience.
[0013] The present invention preferably comprises a content setup
procedure including moving a designated content file on a web site
of the content provider to a protected area, where only the
electronic Payment System can provide access to and replacing the
original content files of the content provider by "dummy" files
having a link to the electronic Payment System's payment
authorization web-page and including sales information provided by
the content provider. The protected area is only accessible by
authentified users which have for example entered payment
information like a credit card number. The dummy files make it easy
to restore the original state of the web site of the content
provider after termination of the registration.
[0014] Preferably an automatic content update process is provided
replacing content files in the protected area by the corresponding
files from the content provider if the latter has a younger time
stamp. A content update can therefore be performed automatically
without the need of interaction by the content provider. This also
allows to move an empty content file to the protected area and
replace the same by the complete file including the content if the
same is available.
[0015] A further implementation of the present invention provides a
computer system for offering content for sale over a computer
network comprising a content provider interface for receiving from
a plurality of registered content providers sales information about
a content which the content providers intend to offer for sale, a
storage unit for storing the received content for sale, a user
interface, for providing, through an electronic payment system
controlled user access to the stored content for sale over the
communications network under conditions defined by the sales
information from the consent provider, a further storage unit for
storing purchase data about content purchased by a user, and a
processing unit for distributing the sales revenues among the
plurality of content providers based on the purchase data.
[0016] The present invention still further provides a computer
program product comprising executable code for receiving from a
plurality of registered content providers sales information about
content which the content providers intend to offer for sale,
providing, through a service provider and an electronic payment
system, controlled user access to the content for sale over the
communications network under conditions defined by the sales
information from the content provider, detecting and storing
purchase data about content purchased by a user, and distributing
sales revenues among the plurality of content providers based on
the purchase data.
[0017] Further embodiments of the present invention are described
by the dependent claims.
[0018] The present invention and further objects, features, and
advantages thereof will become more readily apparent from the
following detailed description of particular embodiments taken in
connection with the attached drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0019] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a computer system
according to the present invention.
[0020] FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating the method steps of an
embodiment of the present invention.
[0021] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the method steps of an
embodiment of the content designation process according to the
present invention.
[0022] FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of a screen display of an
information input form for inputting content sales information.
[0023] FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a
content setup process according to the present invention.
[0024] FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating the sales process
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
[0025] FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an automatic content
update procedure according to an embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0026] In the following some expressions used in the specification
are defined:
[0027] Content provider: provider of digital content like picture
or music files, news, technical information or software. The
content is stored on a website of the content provider. The present
invention is particularly useful for smaller content providers like
small businesses or private persons.
[0028] Service provider: provider of services like e-commerce
services over the internet for others, often called virtual domain
hosting service provider or simply web hosting service provider.
The web sites of a plurality of content providers are accessible by
users over the internet through the web site of the service
provider.
[0029] Electronic payment system: a software providing secure
payment, also of small amounts of money, over the internet.
Examples are Qpass.TM., Cypercash.TM., Firstgate.TM., paypal.TM.,
Millicent.TM. etc. For authentification of a user either username
& password or a public key infrastructure may be used.
[0030] User: any person surfing in the internet with a suitable
device like a PC, laptop or web-enabled mobile phone.
[0031] Customer: content provider who is registered with the
service provider using the present invention to offer content for
sale over the internet.
[0032] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an embodiment of the
present invention. A service provider (SP) 100 can be accessed by a
plurality of users 130 over a communications network like the
internet. On the web site of the service provider 100 digital
content of a plurality of content providers 110 is offered for sale
to the users. Among the content providers (CP) there may be small
publishers of music, shareware, books or news, dating agencies,
vendors of expert information like addresses, technical, medical or
legal information or lifestyle information like the "hippest" bars,
restaurants or live events. The content providers 110 register with
the service provider 100 to offer designated digital content for
sale over the internet. The payment processing for all content sold
through service provider 100 is carried out through an electronic
payment system 120. After user authentification through user
interface 102 (e.g. by entering a password or a credit card number)
the payment processing for the sale of a content item from one of
the content providers to a user is carried out by the service
provider through payment interface 103. For the payment system 120
only one customer exists, i.e. the service provider 100. The
service provider having the functions of the present invention thus
acts as an aggregator for payment services between content
providers and users. It so enables the customers to sell their
content with very low basic fees. The service provider becomes a
"mall" where content providers rent spaces on the service provider
web site to sell their (information) goods having a single
"cashier" at the exit. The web hosting service provider receives
from a user account at the electronic payment system money for
selling its aggregated content which is then distributed (after
subtracting a commission) among the plurality of content providers
related to their respective turnovers. The number of content
providers may be many hundred or many thousand or even more.
Furthermore each registered content provider is enabled as member
of the electronic payment system thus receiving user name and
password for the server therefore creating potential new
customers.
[0033] The computer program according to the present invention may
be embodied as a server application running on the web hosting
service provider system 100. The invention, however, may also be
implemented as a distributed application running on a plurality of
connected server systems. The program comprises a first content
provider interface 101 to a plurality of content providers 110, a
second interface 102 (user interface) enabling access to an
electronic payment system controlling user access to the content
for sale and a third interface 103 (payment interface) to an
electronic payment system 120 which controls access to the content
in a protected area (106) and will also be used to receive the data
about the revenues from the ePS generated by the content sales that
will have to be distributed to the content providers. Moreover, a
storing unit 104 is provided for storing purchase data i.e. data
about which user purchases which content at what price.
Furthermore, a processing unit 107 provides an automatic update
procedure as described in FIG. 7 Based on this data the revenues
(minus the commission) are distributed among the content
providers.
[0034] A content provider, after being registered as customer of
the web hosting service provider receives through first interface
101 an offer to use the service provider for enabling its web site
for electronic commerce. The content provider only needs to enter
some information about the content offered for sale, input a
confirmation and is shortly thereafter fully e-commerce enabled. No
manual changes or programming work of the web pages or CGI scripts
of the content provider is required. All necessary steps for
designating and setting up the content for sale are carried out in
an automated way as will be described later with reference to FIGS.
3 to 5.
[0035] FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating the process steps of a
particular embodiment of the present invention.
[0036] With the registration procedure S1 a content provider
becomes customer of the web hosting service provider. The
registration procedure includes inputting data about the address,
bank account and type of business of the content provider. If the
CP agrees to the hosting conditions he receives a user name and
password at the end of the registration process identifying the
content provider as specific customer and allowing a later
submission and update of content using user name and password.
[0037] Then the content files which the registered content provider
wishes to offer for sale are determined by the content designation
procedure S2 which will be in detail explained later with reference
to FIG. 3.
[0038] Then follows the setup process S3 in which the designated
content files are set up for controlled user access, that is access
in exchange for payment.
[0039] For every purchase of an item made through the web hosting
service provider the purchase data including identification of the
sold item and the buyer (log-file) are detected and stored in
process step S4. The log file may also be produced by the
electronic payment system. Based on the user purchase data the
payment is processed and the revenues distributed among the content
providers (process step S5).
[0040] The content designation procedure will now be explained with
reference to FIG. 3. In this procedure the content provider defines
which content from his web site should be for sale.
[0041] In the first step S20 the web site of the content provider
is scanned and in subsequent step S21 all available files which
could potentially be sold over the web are listed on a display
screen. The content provider may filter out files (e.g. private
content) he does not wish to be displayed. From the displayed files
the content provider can select via a check box or the like the
files he wishes to sell. For picture sales a thumbnail of for
example 120.times.120 pixel and for text files a teaser of 128
bytes may be generated to support the decision which content to
select. For all files it is preferred to display the file name,
size and date.
[0042] In subsequent step S22 file types and directories of the CP
web site are detected and displayed.
[0043] After the content provider has selected a number of files
for sale in step S23 the system will then scan all HTML files of
the web site of the content provider for all the file names the
user has selected. A list of all these HTML files where reference
to the selected content files are made is then displayed on a
display medium (step S24). From this list of files the content
provider then selects exactly one reference file with reference to
the content file he wishes to sell step S25).
[0044] In subsequent method step S26 the sales information relating
to the content is inserted by the content provider. This
information includes:
[0045] The catalogue file path and file name with a link to the
content file for sale. This file can only be a .htm or .html file.
It needs to contain the file name of the content file physically
(i.e. not constructed by e.g. Java script). The content provider
can specify if he does not wish an automated update of the
catalogue file, e.g. in case it contains Java script.
[0046] The content file path and file name. This file can be of any
file type. The content not yet need to exist and can be added
later.
[0047] A description or comment, either plain text or a mixture of
plain text and basic HTML.
[0048] The duration of a temporary link to the content file, i.e.
the time duration how long a content file shall be available after
it has been sold. The duration may be selected interactively within
minimum and maximum values.
[0049] The price for a single purchase of the content.
[0050] An example of a screen display for interactively inputting
the sales information is shown in FIG. 4.
[0051] For every content item a separate row is provided. On the
left-hand side the catalogue file path (catalogue directory) and
the catalogue file name are input. On the right-hand side the
content file path and content file name are entered together with
comment text (in the case of pictures thumbnails are also
possible), the sales duration and the sales price.
[0052] Alternative to the interactive input of the sales data these
may be transferred to the service provider as text files. In this
case, however, strict formatting rules have to be obeyed.
[0053] The invention allows an automated procedure for designating
the content files for sale and submitting the necessary sales
information to the web hosting service provider. No programming
work is required.
[0054] FIG. 5 illustrates the content setup process which is an
automated process making the designated content files of a content
provider available for sale over the internet.
[0055] In step S31 the designated files are moved to a protected
area to which only the service provider has read and write access
and a user via the electronic payment system has read access to.
The payment system now analyzes the directory of designated content
files and generates a list of links which are returned to the
service provider acting as a single interface to the electronic
payment system (step S32).
[0056] Then, in method step S33, HTML pages called "dummies" are
created and stored in the original directory of the content
provider. These dummy files are replacing the content files which
have been moved to the protected area 106 (FIG. 1). The dummy files
always have the same extension.html or htm and may have the same
file names as the original content files facilitating an automated
update procedure (will be explained later). The dummy files are
located at the places of the original files and are accessible for
the user over the internet.
[0057] The catalogue file corresponding to the content file has to
be updated if there are files referenced in it which do not end
with ".htm". This means that an update is necessary since upon
moving a content files to the protected area the file extensions
are changed from .jpg, .gif, .mp3, .wav etc. to .htm.
[0058] The dummy files act as carrier for the chargeable link to
the content provided by the payment system.
[0059] To prevent obvious error sources it is checked in step S35
if changes in the catalogue files will lead to inconsistencies.
This is done by checking for each of the content file names if
there are files with the same name but different extensions in the
same directory, e.g. if there is a file "picture.htm" and a file
"picture.jpg" referenced in the catalogue file. Detecting such an
inconsistency will stop the action and generate an error report. It
is further checked if there are files in the directories of the
content provider which have to be overwritten with the dummy files.
This will also stop further action and generate an error
report.
[0060] To prevent fraud it is checked in method step S36 if there
are files exceeding a critical file size which have to be changed
or moved (e.g. larger than 2 GB). This will stop further action and
generate an error report.
[0061] To allow an easy and secure role-back back-up files of all
catalogue files are created in step S37.
[0062] Finally, in step S38, the content files are presented on the
web site of the service provider together with the sales
information like sales duration or sales price.
[0063] The flow chart of FIG. 6 explains the procedure of selling
content to a user.
[0064] After setting up the content files for sale in step S40
(explained in detail with reference to FIG. 5), a user accesses the
web site of the service provider in step S41.
[0065] The user selects an offer from a CP in step S41 and decides
to purchase the digital content. By selecting the appropriate link
in a catalogue file, he comes to the dummy area 105 (FIG. 1). In
the dummy area, he selects the payment method he would like to use
(step S42). This can be any kind of ePS or Micropayment system
(Qpass, Firstgate, Cybercash etc.) the service provider is able to
offer for payment.
[0066] Directly on the dummy page, the user enters his username and
password to authorize the payment of the price given on the dummy
page for the digital content (step S43). In case he is not yet
signed up for any of the ePS offered, he has to sign-up first and
can then return.
[0067] In the next step S44 the ePS is processing the payment.
[0068] In exchange for the payment authorization, the user then
receives in step S45 a temporary link to the digital content in the
restricted area, directly from the ePS or Micropayment system. For
this purpose the ePS has administration rights over the restricted
area at the SP. Due to this the user can access the desired content
files in the protected area 106 (FIG. 1) of the content provider
through the links from the service provider enabled through the
interface between service provider and payment system.
[0069] The ePS sends the revenues generated by the digital content
sale to the SP, after diminishing a commission (step S46). The
service provider uses the invention (FIG. 1, processing unit 107)
to distribute the payment to the appropriate content provider.
Using the purchase data the service provider then distributes the
earnings among the content providers in regular time intervals,
e.g. once a month. Since the payment transaction is only carried
out between the payment system and the service provider and not
between the payment system and many hundred or thousand content
providers, the costs for every single transaction can be reduced
dramatically. This creates e-commerce opportunities for small and
medium-sized content providers.
[0070] In addition to the money for the sold content the service
provider also reports detailed sales statistics to the content
providers which can then adapt its offerings accordingly.
[0071] An automatic update procedure is now explained with
reference to the flow chart of FIG. 7.
[0072] At regular time intervals, for example every 30 minutes, the
system crawls designated content files on the web site of the
content provider (step S51). If a file is available its time stamp
is compared with the time stamp of the content file last processed
(moved). In case the time stamp is different (step S52) the file
will be moved from the unprotected CP directory to the protected
area and thereby updated, overwriting the older content. In case
the sales information (price, duration, description) has changed,
the content provider may indicate this by setting an update flag.
This causes the system to generate and place an updated dummy
file.
[0073] It is even possible to create files in the protected area
for content that does not yet exist in order to provide the same
later when it becomes available. The system generates in such cases
a warning "file not found, expecting later arrival during a content
setup procedure". In the next update cycle the system then
generates the required entries. Only catalogue file links for
existing content, however, will be changed.
[0074] The automatic update procedure is very convenient for the
content provider since it is basically invisible and does not
disturb the normal workflow of the content provider.
[0075] In the case catalogue or content files are destroyed due to
an unforeseeable error or the content provider wishes to terminate
the registration with the service provider a rollback procedure may
be provided. This procedure sets back the web site of the content
provider in the same state as it would be without registration with
the service provider. The content files can be reached directly
from the catalogue files without a payment system being involved.
The last catalogue file backup is moved back into its original
directory. All original content files are moved back from the
protected area into the original directory overwriting the dummy
files.
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