U.S. patent application number 12/815573 was filed with the patent office on 2011-09-15 for end user license agreement on demand.
This patent application is currently assigned to MICROSOFT CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Moe Khosravy, Roger Soulen Mall.
Application Number | 20110225658 12/815573 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44561201 |
Filed Date | 2011-09-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110225658 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Khosravy; Moe ; et
al. |
September 15, 2011 |
END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT ON DEMAND
Abstract
Systems and methods for providing end user license agreements on
demand for information as a service is provided. In some
embodiments, a computer-implemented system can include: at least
one processor; and at least one publication module configured to
publish content to a consumer. The computer-implemented system can
also include at least one condition generation module configured to
generate a representation of one or more conditions associated with
use by the consumer for published content from the at least one
publication module. The conditions can be canonicalized conditions
representing standard terms to be included in the representation.
In some embodiments, the representation is a license agreement for
the consumer. The computer-implemented system can also a
computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable
instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one processor
to perform one or more functions of the at least one publication
module or the at least one condition generation module.
Inventors: |
Khosravy; Moe; (Bellevue,
WA) ; Mall; Roger Soulen; (Sammamish, WA) |
Assignee: |
MICROSOFT CORPORATION
Redmond
WA
|
Family ID: |
44561201 |
Appl. No.: |
12/815573 |
Filed: |
June 15, 2010 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61312364 |
Mar 10, 2010 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
726/28 ; 707/758;
707/E17.014 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 50/18 20130101;
H04L 47/70 20130101; G06Q 10/10 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
726/28 ; 707/758;
707/E17.014 |
International
Class: |
G06F 21/24 20060101
G06F021/24; G06F 17/30 20060101 G06F017/30 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented system, comprising: at least one
processor; at least one publication module configured to publish
content to a consumer; at least one condition generation module
configured to generate a representation of one or more conditions
for use with published content from the at least one publication
module, wherein the one or more conditions are canonicalized
conditions representing standard terms to be included in the
representation, and wherein the representation is a license
agreement for the consumer; and a computer-readable storage medium
storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause
the at least one processor to perform one or more functions of the
at least one publication module or the at least one condition
generation module.
2. The computer-implemented system of claim 1, wherein the
condition generation module comprises: at least one taxonomy module
configured to classify a plurality of the one or more
conditions.
3. The computer-implemented system of claim 2, wherein the
condition generation module is configured to generate the
representation of the one or more conditions based, at least, upon
querying over the plurality of conditions based, at least, upon the
input.
4. The computer-implemented system of claim 3, wherein the input is
indicative of at least one of a type of the published content, a
disallowed activity or an identity of an owner of the published
content.
5. The computer-implemented system of claim 1, wherein one or more
of the plurality of conditions are non-standard terms that are not
canonicalized.
6. The computer-implemented system of claim 5, wherein the
non-standard terms are free form text.
7. The computer-implemented system of claim 4, wherein the
disallowed activity is associated with at least one of rendering,
printing, derivation, dissemination or copying.
8. The computer-implemented system of claim 1, wherein the
representation is at least one of a visual representation or an
audio representation.
9. The computer-implemented system of claim 1, further comprising a
user interface configured to receive at least one input indicative
of an option for use of the published content.
10. A computer-implemented method, comprising: employing a
processor configured to execute computer-readable instructions
that, when executed, cause the processor to perform: publishing
content to a consumer; and generating a representation of one or
more conditions associated with use of published content by the
consumer, wherein the one or more conditions are license conditions
for use of published content by the consumer.
11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising
receiving at least one input from an owner of the published
content.
12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the at
least one input is indicative of at least one a type of the
published content, an identity of the owner or a disallowed
activity for the published content.
13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein the
disallowed activity is indicative of a maximum number of times that
rendering, copying, dissemination or printing can be performed by
the consumer.
14. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the
representation is an end user license agreement for the
consumer.
15. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, wherein the
generating the representation of the one or more conditions
comprises accessing a plurality of conditions classified according
to a taxonomy based on a type of the published content.
16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the
accessing comprises querying the plurality of conditions of use
based, at least, on the at least one input.
17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein the
plurality of conditions of use are canonicalized.
18. A computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored
thereon that, when executed, cause a processor to perform a method
comprising: displaying an option selection representation via a
user interface, wherein the option selection representation is
associated with options for use of published content; receiving an
input via the user interface; and identifying one or more
conditions for use with the published content based, at least, on
the input, wherein the one or more conditions are end user license
conditions.
19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the
option selection representation comprises a text box, and wherein
the receiving the input comprises receiving a free form selection
input at the text box.
20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the
option selection representation comprises menu of options, and
wherein the receiving the input comprises receiving a selection
indicative of at least one option of the menu of options.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Patent Application Ser. No. 61/312,364, filed Mar. 10, 2010, which
is titled "End User License Agreement On Demand," and the entire
contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0002] The subject disclosure relates to end user license
agreements (EULAs), and more specifically, to providing EULAs on
demand for third-party content.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Currently, no cloud service or network service provider can
effectively provide information as a service on any platform such
that publishers, developers, and consumers/subscribers can easily
publish, generate applications for and consume any type of data in
a way that can be tracked, audited for publishers, developers
and/or consumers/subscribers and such that publisher restrictions
on the use of content can be enforced. Further, restrictions on the
use of content are typically negotiated by content negotiators
(e.g., attorneys). As such, terms and conditions tend to be
content-specific and vary widely in language and complexity. As
such, no single system can currently receive and enforce the
customized terms and conditions provided for disparate content.
Additionally, terms and conditions that are presumably similar or
the same are often unrecognizable as such by a human or a single
system processing and attempting to enforce the customized
terms.
[0004] The above-described deficiencies of today's services are
merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of
conventional systems, and are not intended to be exhaustive. Other
problems with the state of the art and corresponding benefits of
some of the various non-limiting embodiments may become further
apparent upon review of the following detailed description.
SUMMARY
[0005] A simplified summary is provided herein to help enable a
basic or general understanding of various aspects of one or more of
the exemplary, non-limiting embodiments that follow in the more
detailed description and the accompanying drawings. This summary is
not intended, however, as an extensive or exhaustive overview.
Instead, the sole purpose of this summary is to present some
concepts related to some exemplary non-limiting embodiments in a
simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description of
the various embodiments that follow.
[0006] In connection with information as a service from any
platform, EULAs can be provided on demand for third-party content.
Third-party content owners can provide inputs to the system
providing service from any platform. The inputs can be indicative
of desired disallowed activity for published content owned by the
third-party content owner. The system can receive inputs via
selection of menu options and/or free form text. One or more inputs
can be processed using a taxonomy of conditions to generate a EULA
on demand. Some of the EULA terms can be standard, canonicalized
terms, while others can be non-standard terms that are not
canonicalized and that are entered free form by the third-party
content owner.
[0007] Other embodiments and various non-limiting examples,
scenarios and implementations are described in more detail
below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] Various non-limiting embodiments are further described with
reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
[0009] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary
non-limiting infrastructure for information provided as a service
from any platform;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary
non-limiting embodiment for information provided as a service from
any platform;
[0011] FIG. 3 is an exemplary non-limiting implementation of the
infrastructure for information as a service as described above
according to one or more features;
[0012] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary end to
end flow diagram from data to consumers of the data for enabling
information as a service from any platform;
[0013] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary
computing system for generating a EULA on demand as information as
a service from any platform;
[0014] FIGS. 6 and 7 are flow diagrams illustrating exemplary
non-limiting embodiments for generating a EULA on demand as
information as a service from any platform;
[0015] FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary user
interface for generating a EULA on demand as information as a
service from any platform;
[0016] FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary end to
end flow diagram from content owner to consumer for generating a
EULA on demand as information as a service from any platform;
[0017] FIG. 10 is a block diagram representing exemplary
non-limiting networked environments in which various embodiments
described herein can be implemented; and
[0018] FIG. 11 is a block diagram representing an exemplary
non-limiting computing system or operating environment in which one
or more aspects of various embodiments described herein can be
implemented.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0019] The following description contains context regarding
potential non-limiting infrastructure, architectures and/or
associated services to further aid in understanding one or more of
the above embodiments. Any one or more of any additional features
described in this section can be accommodated in any one or more of
the embodiments described above with respect to dynamically
generating an end user license agreement (EULA) for third-party
content. While such combinations of embodiments or features are
possible, for the avoidance of doubt, no embodiments set forth in
the subject disclosure should be considered limiting on any other
embodiments described herein.
[0020] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary
non-limiting set of implementation specific details for an
infrastructure for information provided as a service from any
platform. FIG. 1 generally illustrates the various parties that may
participate in an ecosystem providing information as a service as
described herein. For instance a set of network accessible
information services 100 provide access to a variety of trusted or
untrusted data stores 110, depending on the sensitivity or other
characteristics of the data. As shown, thus, what type of data
store, 112, 114, . . . , 116 is not so important since the
ecosystem supports any kind of data, blob, structured,
unstructured, etc. As mentioned, the system includes publishers 120
that add data to the ecosystem, subscribers 130 that consume the
data and application developers or providers 150 who can consume
the data with their applications. An access information generator
170 can also govern access to the data by various parties through
maintaining or enforcing account information, key information, etc.
In this respect, content owners 160 can span any of the roles in
that a content owner 160 can be a publisher 120, a subscriber 130
and/or an application developer as well. In one aspect, the common
infrastructure for all parties enables administration 165, auditing
173, billing 175 as well as other desired ancillary services to the
data transactions occurring across the infrastructure.
[0021] In this regard, various embodiments for the user friendly
data platform for enabling information as a service from any
platform is an infrastructure to enable consumers of data
(Information Workers (IWs), developers, independent software
vendors (ISVs)) and consumers of data to transact in a simple, cost
effective and convenient manner. The infrastructure democratizes
premium (private) and community (public) data in an affordable way
to allow IWs to draw insights rapidly, allows developers to build
innovative apps using multiple sources of data in a creative manner
and enables developers to monetize their efforts on any platform.
For instance, the infrastructure supports Pay Per Use as well as
Subscription Pricing for Content, Pay for Content ("retail
price"--set by content owner), Pay Data Fee ("Shipping and
Handling"), and further supports Data fees as a brokerage fee on a
per-logical transaction basis (per report, per application program
interface (API), per download, etc.).
[0022] For Information Workers (e.g., OFFICE.RTM., SQL SERVER.RTM.,
MICROSOFT DYNAMICS.RTM. users), the infrastructure supports
subscriptions to allow for future enterprise architecture (EA)
integration as well as predictable spend requirements (as well as
caching to support on and off-premise Business Intelligence (BI) as
well as high performance computing (HPC) workloads). Thus,
alternatives include content priced per-user per-month; which may
or may not bundle to deliver content packs or per-transaction
pricing, e.g., allowing cloud reporting/business intelligence
on-demand pricing to eliminate the need to move large amounts of
data while allowing per-usage pricing, or vertical apps via report
galleries.
[0023] For data owners (any data type; any cloud), using any
platform, the infrastructure becomes a value proposition to incent
sales within any particular desired platform; auto-scaling, higher
level service level agreement (SLA) possibilities at no additional
cost. For some non-limiting examples, data can be secure and
associated data in the following domains: Location aware services
& data, Commercial and residential real estate, Financial data
and services, etc. A non-limiting scenario may include delivery of
data to top 30 non-governmental organization (NGO) datasets. In
addition, the infrastructure may include the ability to showcase BI
& visualization through BINGTM for information as a service,
HPC, etc. Vertical application opportunities exist as well.
[0024] In one non-limiting embodiment, the data brokerage can be
analogized to conventional brick and mortar strategies: For
instance, capacity can be represented as shelf space (e.g., a mix
of structured and unstructured/blob data), cost of goods (COGS) can
be represented as square footage (e.g., platform dependency,
bandwidth) and content can be represented as merchandise (e.g.,
optimize data owners to cover COGS, maximize profits from IWs and
developers). In various embodiments, an onboarding process can be
implemented with quality bars for data and services, as well as
accommodation of service level agreements (SLAs).
[0025] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary
non-limiting embodiment for information provided as a service from
any platform. As shown in the flow diagram of FIG. 2, at 200,
described herein are various ways for content owners or publishers
to publish data via the infrastructure. At 210, there are a variety
of tools that allow developers to develop applications for
consuming the data via the infrastructure. At 220, consumers or
information workers use the applications or can directly query over
the data to consume the data. Lastly, the infrastructure provides a
rich variety of tools at 230 that enable automatic administration,
auditing, billing, etc. on behalf of all parties in the content
chain, enabled by the transaction model.
[0026] In this regard, some key parties in the infrastructure
include data owners, the application developers/ISVs and the
consumers/information workers. In general, data owners are entities
who want to charge for data, or who want to provide data for free
for other reasons, or enforce other conditions over the data. In
turn, application developers/ISVs are entities who want to monetize
their application (e.g., through advertising, direct payments,
indirect payments, etc.), or provide their application for free for
some beneficial reason to such entities. Information workers and
consumers are those who can use the raw data, or those who want to
use an application provided by the application developers.
[0027] FIG. 3 is an exemplary non-limiting implementation of the
infrastructure 310 for information as a service as described above
according to one or more features. At the interaction side are
information workers 300, developers 302 and consumers 304 who can
communicate with the infrastructure via secure sockets layer
(SSL)/representational state transfer (REST) based APIs 306. A load
balancer 308 can be used to help steer traffic in an optimal way.
In this regard, the input is routed to portal web roles 320 or API
web roles 322. From the infrastructure 310 to the data side is
additional load balancing 324 or 326 for access to blob data sets
342, or blob data set 355 of cloud storage framework 340, or to
data sets 352 or data set 354 of relational database frameworks
350. Proxy layers 328 can be used to access data 362 or data 364 of
third party clouds 360. Content data abstract layers (DALs) 330 can
be used to access content, where applicable. In this regard, there
can be duplication or overlap of data sets across different types
of storage, e.g., the same data might be represented as blob data
and as structured data, e.g., SQL SERVER.RTM..
[0028] As supplemental services to the data, billing and discovery
services 370 can include online billing 372 (e.g., MICROSOFT.RTM.
Online Customer Portal (MOCP)) or discovery services 374 (e.g.,
pinpoint) and authentication services 380 can include credentials
management 382 (e.g., MICROSOFT.RTM. Windows Live ID) or content
authentication 384, e.g., authenticated content services (ACS).
Accounts services 390 can include logging/audit services 386 or
account management 388. Management and operations services 392 can
include an operations dashboard service 394 and network operations
service 396, e.g., Gomez.
[0029] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary end to
end flow from data to consumers of the data in accordance with one
or more embodiments of the general infrastructure for enabling
information as a service. For instance, information as a service
400 can include commercial data 402 and free data 404, which can be
of interest to various for profit developers 410, nonprofit
developers 412 with non-profit motives and other information
workers 414 who are interested in consuming the data generally for
productive goals. These entities can use discovery services 420 to
determine what applications 422, 424, . . . , 426 may be of
interest to them, and to ultimately transmit the data to indirect
license acquisition (ILA) consumers 430 and direct license
acquisition (DLA) consumers 432 alike.
[0030] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a system for providing a EULA
on demand for third-party content as described herein. The system
500 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 3, 4 and 5. In
some embodiments, the system 500 can be part of the information
service 200 illustrated in FIG. 2.
[0031] The system can include a processor 510, a publication module
520, a memory 530 and a condition generation module 540. In some
embodiments, the system can also include a user interface 550
and/or an enforcement module 560.
[0032] The processor 510 can be configured to execute
computer-readable instructions stored in the memory 530 and perform
one or more functions of the system 500 described herein.
[0033] The publication module 520 can be configured to published
content and output the published content from the publication
module 520 for experience by a consumer 304. The published content
can include, but is not limited to, data in the data stores 212,
214, . . . , 216 and/or commercial data 402 owned or controlled by
owners 260. In various embodiments, the owners 260 can be
third-party content owners.
[0034] The condition generation module 540 can be configured to
generate a representation of one or more conditions associated with
use of the published content. The representation can be a EULA on
demand generated visually and/or in audio format for review and
acceptance by the consumer 304 prior to experience of the published
content by the consumer 304.
[0035] In some embodiments, the one or more conditions included in
the EULA can be or be indicative of disallowed activity in some
embodiments. By way of example, but not limitation, the one or more
conditions can be indicative of disallowed printing, downloading,
dissemination, rendering, copying activity or any other disallowed
activity.
[0036] In some embodiments, some of the conditions can be
canonicalized such that similar or the same language is used for
similar or the same disallowed activity. In some embodiments, some
of the conditions can be stored in the system 500 as non-standard
terms that are not canonicalized. Such non-standard terms can be
included in the EULA using the free form text input to the system
500 by a third-party content owner generating the EULA for the
published content.
[0037] Because the sentences and/or phrases making up the
conditions can be canonicalized, the EULA conditions for any number
of different media owned by different third-parties can have a
recognizable degree of uniformity. As such, the complexity of terms
and presentation format in the EULAs output from the system 500 for
different third-parties can be reduced.
[0038] In some embodiments, the condition generation module 540 can
include or be operably coupled to a taxonomy module (not shown)
configured to classify the one or more conditions. The conditions
can be classified in a number of ways, as described below,
including, but not limited to, according to a type of the content,
a disallowed activity and/or can include a hierarchy of condition,
or term, definitions.
[0039] In various embodiments, the conditions can be classified by
the type of the published content. For example, particular
conditions can be typically employed for typical types of content.
Such particular conditions can be classified together. By way of
example, but not limitation, conditions that are typically employed
for electronic books can be classified in one category, conditions
that are typically employed for downloadable music can be
classified in another category and conditions that are typically
employed for films can be classified in another category.
[0040] Accordingly, selection of the EULA condition can be based on
an input solely indicative of the published content type. In some
embodiments, selection of the EULA condition can include inferring
a EULA condition typically suitable for inclusion in a EULA for
content of the type indicated. Accordingly, EULAs can be
dynamically generated to include conditions typically suitable for
a particular content type, thereby increasing the likelihood of
generating a more complete EULA while expending less financial and
time resources.
[0041] In various embodiments, the conditions can be classified by
the disallowed activity. For example, conditions related to
disallowed printing and copying can be classified in a first
category while conditions related to disallowed dissemination and
downloading can be provided in a second category. As such, the
categories can be arranged in one or more buckets that can
accommodate various different conditions.
[0042] For example, selecting a EULA condition can be based on a
disallowed manner of using particular content. By way of example,
but not limitation, the selection can be indicative of a maximum
number of times that the published content can be printed and/or
whether printing privileges are provided to the consumer in
general. The EULA condition can therefore be a sentence or phrase
providing simple language to the consumer regarding the number of
times that the content can be printed and/or that the content
cannot be printed.
[0043] In some embodiments, the system 500 can be configured to
receive one or more inputs from a third-party content owner, and
the condition generation module 540 can determine appropriate
conditions with which to publish the EULA on demand. In some
embodiments, the conditions can be determined by querying over the
conditions using OData or other querying protocols.
[0044] In some embodiments, the conditions can be determined based
on mapping, semantics, pattern recognition or other techniques for
selecting data that corresponds to an input.
[0045] The inputs can be received via the user interface 550
communicatively coupled to the system 500. In some embodiments, the
user interface 550 particularly, or the system 500 generally, can
be configured to receive the input for generating the EULA on
demand.
[0046] The input, or selection, can be a free-form selection
received in a text box displayed via the user interface 550 and/or
a selection of a menu option displayed via the user interface 550.
In some embodiments, the user interface can receive audio
selections from third-parties. The selections can be indicative of
disallowed activity and/or indicative of the content type in
various embodiments. In some embodiments, the selections can be
indicative of the identity of the third-party (for embodiments
wherein the third-party chooses to generate EULAs that are
substantially the same for all of the published content owned by
the third-parties).
[0047] The system 500 can include an enforcement module 560 in some
embodiments. The enforcement module 560 can be configured to
enforce the one or more conditions associated with the published
content, and on any platform. In some embodiments, enforcing the
one or more conditions of use can include disallowing a disallowed
activity indicated by the one or more conditions. In various
embodiments, the enforcement module 560 can enforce the conditions
of the EULA to prevent disallowed activity over MICROSOFT
OFFICE.RTM. platforms, WINDOWS.RTM. platforms, SQL.RTM. platforms,
MAC.RTM. platforms, and/or OPENOFFICE.ORG.RTM. platforms.
[0048] The enforcement module 560 can perform the enforcement via
an information rights management module (not shown) in some
embodiments. The information rights management module can be
included within, or be operably coupled to, the enforcement module
560.
[0049] Referring to memory 530, in some embodiments, the memory 530
can be a computer-readable storage medium having instructions
stored thereon that, when executed, cause a processor to perform a
method. The method (not shown) can include: displaying an option
selection representation via a user interface, wherein the option
selection representation is associated with options for use of
published content. The method can also include receiving an input
via the user interface; and identifying one or more conditions for
use with the published content based, at least, on the input,
wherein the one or more conditions are end user license
conditions.
[0050] In some embodiments of the computer-readable storage medium,
the option selection representation comprises a text box, and
wherein the receiving the input comprises receiving a free form
selection input at the text box. In some embodiments of the
computer-readable storage medium, the option selection
representation comprises menu of options, and wherein the receiving
the input comprises receiving a selection indicative of at least
one option of the menu of options.
[0051] In some embodiments of the computer-readable storage medium,
the method also includes receiving a selection of a type of the
published content, wherein the displaying the option selection
representation is based on the receiving the selection of the type
of the published content.
[0052] In some embodiments of the computer-readable storage medium,
the method also includes generating an end user license agreement
including the end user license conditions. In some embodiments of
the computer-readable storage medium, the end user license
conditions are canonicalized, standard terms.
[0053] FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of generating a
EULA on demand as information for a service on any platform
according to an embodiment described herein.
[0054] At 610, method 600 can include publishing content to a
consumer. The content can be any type of content owned by a
third-party including, but not limited to, music, electronic books,
films, video games, website or the like.
[0055] At 620, method 600 can include receiving an input indicative
of a condition of use for the published content. The input can be
received from an owner of the published content. The input can
indicate a type of content, a disallowed activity and/or an owner
of the content in various embodiments.
[0056] At 630, method 600 can include selecting a condition for the
EULA based on the input received. Selecting the condition can be
performing through any number of methods including, but not limited
to, querying the one or more conditions to determine the condition
that most closely relates to the input, mapping, pattern
recognition, semantics or the like.
[0057] The conditions can be standard terms that are canonicalized
or non-standard terms that are not canonicalized. The non-standard
terms can result from free form text inputs or audio inputs by the
content owner.
[0058] The conditions can be classified according to a taxonomy.
The taxonomy can be based on a type of the content, the disallowed
activity and/or the owner of the content. In various embodiments,
the disallowed activity can be associated with rendering, printing,
derivation, dissemination or copying.
[0059] At 640, method 600 can include outputting a representation
of one or more conditions to a consumer or subscriber. The
representation can be the EULA on demand in some embodiments. The
representation can be visual and/or audio in different
embodiments.
[0060] At 650, method 600 can include enforcing the conditions of
the EULA. Enforcing the conditions of the EULA can comprise
monitoring the use of the published content by the consumer and
disallowed forbidden activity. In some embodiments, disallowing can
include operating an information management module to prevent the
disallowed activity.
[0061] FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method according to an
embodiment described herein. At 710, method 700 can include
displaying an option selection representation via a user interface.
The representation can be associated with determining conditions
for use with published content. At 720, method 700 can include
receiving an input via the user interface.
[0062] In some embodiments, the option selection representation can
include a text box, and the input is a free form selection input at
the text box. Identifying one or more options can include selecting
the one or more options associated with the free form selection. In
some embodiments, displaying the option selection representation
can include displaying the one or more options as a menu of
options. The input can be a menu selection from the menu of
options.
[0063] At 730, method 700 can include selecting one or more
conditions based, at least, on the input. The one or more
conditions can be classified according to a taxonomy. In some
embodiments, some of the conditions can be standard terms that are
canonicalized while some of the conditions can be non-standard
terms that are not canonicalized.
[0064] Selecting the one or more conditions can be performed by any
known techniques including querying. Pattern recognition, semantics
or the like can be employed.
[0065] At 740, method 700 can include displaying a representation
of the one or more conditions selected. The representation can be
the EULA on demand in some embodiments. The conditions selected can
be displayed via a user interface to a third-party content owner
prior to storage and/or display to a consumer using the published
content.
[0066] In some embodiments, a user interface can be provided to
facilitate generation of the end user license agreement. In some
embodiments, the user interface can be configured to display an
option selection representation. The option selection
representation can include information indicative of one or more
options for use of published content.
[0067] The user interface can also be configured to receive an
input selecting at least one of the one or more options for use.
The input can be received by an owner of the published content
and/or the publisher of the content.
[0068] The user interface can also be configured to display one or
more conditions for inclusion in a EULA. The conditions can be
based, at least, on the input that is received.
[0069] The user interface can also be configured to display a
representation of the EULA. The representation can be visual or
audio in various embodiments.
[0070] In some embodiments, the option selection representation
comprises a text box. In these embodiments, the input received can
be free form text. In some embodiments, in addition to, or in lieu
of the text box, the option selection representative can include a
menu of options for use of the published content. The options can
be selectable by the user providing the input.
[0071] In various embodiments, the displayed one or more conditions
for inclusion in the EULA can be canonicalized, standard terms
and/or conditions that are not canonicalized. For example, the
conditions that are not canonicalized can be the free form text
that can be received via the text box.
[0072] The user interface can provide visual and/or audio displays.
In some embodiments, the user interface can receive inputs through
inputs provided at the user interface screen and/or through audio
signals via voice commands provided to the user interface. In some
embodiments, the user interface is a touchscreen user
interface.
[0073] FIG. 8 is block diagram illustrating an exemplary user
interface (UI) for generating a EULA on demand as information as a
service from any platform. As shown in FIG. 8, UI 800 can include
an option display region 810, an input region 820 and a preview
region 830.
[0074] The option display region 810 can comprise information
indicative of published content or use of the published content. In
some embodiments, the information indicative of the published
content is one or more types of published content. The one or more
types of published content can include music, an electronic book, a
film, a television show or a video game.
[0075] In some embodiments, the information indicative of the use
of the published content is one or more types of disallowed
activity, which can be provided at region 840. The types of
disallowed activity can be indicative of at least one of editing
privileges, printing, copying, writing privileges or
re-distribution or dissemination rights.
[0076] The input region 820 can be configured to display a region
for receiving an input. The input region can include a text box 850
or a selectable menu of options. The text box 850 can be configured
to receive free form text in some embodiments. In some embodiment,
the input region 820 and/or the surface of the UI 800 in totality
can have touchscreen capabilities. In some embodiments, the
selectable menu of options can be as shown at region 840.
[0077] The preview region 830 can be configured to display a
preview of one or more conditions for inclusion in an end user
license agreement. In various embodiments, at least one of the one
or more conditions is canonicalized, standard terms. In various
embodiments, at least one of the one or more conditions is not
canonicalized, standard terms and is the free form text. In some
embodiments, the preview region 830 can be configured to display a
preview of the end user license agreement 860.
[0078] In some embodiments, a UI (not shown) configured to generate
EULA can include an option display region that comprises
information indicative of published content or use of the published
content. The EULA UI can also include an input region configured to
display a region for receiving an input; and a preview region
configured to display a preview of one or more conditions for
inclusion in an end user license agreement. The preview region can
be configured to display the end user license agreement.
[0079] In some embodiments, one or more of the one or more
conditions can be canonicalized, standard terms. In some
embodiments, one or more of the one or more conditions is not
canonicalized, standard terms and are the free form text.
[0080] In some embodiments, the option display region comprises
information indicative of the published content and the information
indicative of the published content is one or more types of
published content.
[0081] In some embodiments, the option display region comprises
information indicative of the use of the published content and the
information indicative of the use of the published content is one
or more types of disallowed activity. In some embodiments, one or
more types of disallowed activity is indicative of at least one of
editing privileges, writing privileges or re-distribution
rights.
[0082] In some embodiments, one or more types of published content
comprises at least one of music, an electronic book, a film, a
television show or a video game.
[0083] In some embodiments, the input region comprises a text box.
The text box can be configured to receive free form text. In some
embodiments, the input region comprises a selectable menu of
options.
[0084] In some embodiments, the UI is a touchscreen user
interface.
[0085] FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary end to
end flow diagram from content owner to consumer for generating a
EULA on demand as information as a service from any platform. The
flow diagram shall be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and
9.
[0086] The content owner can provide selections indicative of
options of use for published content owned by the content owner.
The selections can be provided at a UI 800 accessible by the
content owner.
[0087] The content owner can select one or more types of disallowed
activity 840 from the UI 800. In the embodiment shown, the
disallowed activity is editing the published content and copying
the published content. As such, the content owner has selected read
only privileges and no copying privileges to be associated with the
published content.
[0088] The selected options for use can be received by the
platform-independent engine. The platform-independent engine 900
can include a condition generation module 910 for selecting one or
more conditions (which can be canonicalized, as shown in FIG. 9, or
not canonicalized). The platform-independent engine 900 can include
a condition generation module 910. The one or more conditions can
be classified according to a selected taxonomy, which can be based
on the disallowed activity, the type of the published content, the
identity of the content owner or otherwise. The condition
generation module can select the one or more conditions associated
with the options for use from the data stores 912, 914, . . . ,
916.
[0089] The EULA generation module 920 can receive the conditions
for the EULA and generate the EULA, including the conditions
received. The consumer platform 930 can receive the EULA and
display the EULA to the consumer.
Exemplary Networked and Distributed Environments
[0090] One of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate that the
various embodiments of methods and devices for an infrastructure
for information as a service from any platform and related
embodiments described herein can be implemented in connection with
any computer or other client or server device, which can be
deployed as part of a computer network or in a distributed
computing environment, and can be connected to any kind of data
store. In this regard, the various embodiments described herein can
be implemented in any computer system or environment having any
number of memory or storage units, and any number of applications
and processes occurring across any number of storage units. This
includes, but is not limited to, an environment with server
computers and client computers deployed in a network environment or
a distributed computing environment, having remote or local
storage.
[0091] FIG. 10 provides a non-limiting schematic diagram of an
exemplary networked or distributed computing environment. The
distributed computing environment comprises computing objects 1010,
1012, etc. and computing objects or devices 1020, 1022, 1024, 1026,
1028, etc., which may include programs, methods, data stores,
programmable logic, etc., as represented by applications 1030,
1032, 1034, 1036, 1038. It can be appreciated that objects 1010,
1012, etc. and computing objects or devices 1020, 1022, 1024, 1026,
1028, etc. may comprise different devices, such as PDAs, digital
video disks (dvds), compact discs (cds), audio/video devices,
mobile phones, MP3 players, laptops, etc.
[0092] Each object 1010, 1012, etc. and computing objects or
devices 1020, 1022, 1024, 1026, 1028, etc. can communicate with one
or more other objects 1010, 1012, etc. and computing objects or
devices 1020, 1022, 1024, 1026, 1028, etc. by way of the
communications network 1040, either directly or indirectly. Even
though illustrated as a single element in FIG. 10, network 1040 may
comprise other computing objects and computing devices that provide
services to the system of FIG. 10, and/or may represent multiple
interconnected networks, which are not shown. Each object 1010,
1012, etc. or computing objects or devices 1020, 1022, 1024, 1026,
1028, etc. can also contain an application, such as applications
1030, 1032, 1034, 1036, 1038, that might make use of an API, or
other object, software, firmware and/or hardware, suitable for
communication with or implementation of an infrastructure for
information as a service from any platform as provided in
accordance with various embodiments.
[0093] There are a variety of systems, components, and network
configurations that support distributed computing environments. For
example, computing systems can be connected together by wired or
wireless systems, by local networks or widely distributed networks.
Currently, many networks are coupled to the Internet, which
provides an infrastructure for widely distributed computing and
encompasses many different networks, though any network
infrastructure can be used for exemplary communications made
incident to the techniques as described in various embodiments.
[0094] Thus, a host of network topologies and network
infrastructures, such as client/server, peer-to-peer, or hybrid
architectures, can be utilized. In a client/server architecture,
particularly a networked system, a client is usually a computer
that accesses shared network resources provided by another
computer, e.g., a server. In the illustration of FIG. 10, as a
non-limiting example, computing objects or devices 1020, 1022,
1024, 1026, 1028, etc. can be thought of as clients and objects
1010, 1012, etc. can be thought of as servers where servers, etc.
provide data services, such as receiving data from client computing
objects or devices 1020, 1022, 1024, 1026, 1028, etc., storing of
data, processing of data, transmitting data to client computing
objects or devices 1020, 1022, 1024, 1026, 1028, etc., although any
computer can be considered a client, a server, or both, depending
on the circumstances. Any of these computing devices may be
processing data, or requesting services or tasks that may implicate
an infrastructure for information as a service from any platform
and related techniques as described herein for one or more
embodiments.
[0095] A server is typically a remote computer system accessible
over a remote or local network, such as the Internet or wireless
network infrastructures. The client process may be active in a
first computer system, and the server process may be active in a
second computer system, communicating with one another over a
communications medium, thus providing distributed functionality and
allowing multiple clients to take advantage of the
information-gathering capabilities of the server. Any software
objects utilized pursuant to the user profiling can be provided
standalone, or distributed across multiple computing devices or
objects.
[0096] In a network environment in which the communications
network/bus 1040 is the Internet, for example, the servers etc. can
be Web servers with which the client computing objects or devices
1020, 1022, 1024, 1026, 1028, etc. communicate via any of a number
of known protocols, such as HTTP. Servers etc. may also serve as
client computing objects or devices 1020, 1022, 1024, 1026, 1028,
etc., as may be characteristic of a distributed computing
environment.
Exemplary Computing Device
[0097] As mentioned, various embodiments described herein apply to
any device wherein it may be desirable to implement one or pieces
of an infrastructure for information as a service from any
platform. It should be understood, therefore, that handheld,
portable and other computing devices and computing objects of all
kinds are contemplated for use in connection with the various
embodiments described herein, i.e., anywhere that a device may
provide some functionality in connection with an infrastructure for
information as a service from any platform. Accordingly, the below
general purpose remote computer described below in FIG. 11 is but
one example, and the embodiments of the subject disclosure may be
implemented with any client having network/bus interoperability and
interaction.
[0098] Although not required, any of the embodiments can partly be
implemented via an operating system, for use by a developer of
services for a device or object, and/or included within application
software that operates in connection with the operable
component(s). Software may be described in the general context of
computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being
executed by one or more computers, such as client workstations,
servers or other devices. Those skilled in the art will appreciate
that network interactions may be practiced with a variety of
computer system configurations and protocols.
[0099] FIG. 11 thus illustrates an example of a suitable computing
system environment 1100 in which one or more of the embodiments may
be implemented, although as made clear above, the computing system
environment 1100 is only one example of a suitable computing
environment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to the
scope of use or functionality of any of the embodiments. Neither
should the computing environment 1100 be interpreted as having any
dependency or requirement relating to any one or combination of
components illustrated in the exemplary operating environment
1100.
[0100] With reference to FIG. 11, an exemplary remote device for
implementing one or more embodiments herein can include a general
purpose computing device in the form of a handheld computer 1110.
Components of handheld computer 1110 may include, but are not
limited to, a processing unit 1120, a system memory 1130, and a
system bus 1121 that couples various system components including
the system memory to the processing unit 1120.
[0101] Computer 1110 typically includes a variety of computer
readable media and can be any available media that can be accessed
by computer 1110. The system memory 1130 may include computer
storage media in the form of volatile and/or nonvolatile memory
such as read only memory (ROM) and/or random access memory (RAM).
By way of example, and not limitation, memory 1130 may also include
an operating system, application programs, other program modules,
and program data.
[0102] A user may enter commands and information into the computer
1110 through input devices 1140. A monitor or other type of display
device is also connected to the system bus 1121 via an interface,
such as output interface 1150. In addition to a monitor, computers
may also include other peripheral output devices such as speakers
and a printer, which may be connected through output interface
1150.
[0103] The computer 1110 may operate in a networked or distributed
environment using logical connections to one or more other remote
computers, such as remote computer 1170. The remote computer 1170
may be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a
peer device or other common network node, or any other remote media
consumption or transmission device, and may include any or all of
the elements described above relative to the computer 1110. The
logical connections depicted in FIG. 11 include a network 1171,
such local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), but may
also include other networks/buses. Such networking environments are
commonplace in homes, offices, enterprise-wide computer networks,
intranets and the Internet.
[0104] As mentioned above, while exemplary embodiments have been
described in connection with various computing devices, networks
and advertising architectures, the underlying concepts may be
applied to any network system and any computing device or system in
which it is desirable to publish, build applications for or consume
data in connection with interactions with a cloud or network
service.
[0105] There are multiple ways of implementing one or more of the
embodiments described herein, e.g., an appropriate API, tool kit,
driver code, operating system, control, standalone or downloadable
software object, etc. which enables applications and services to
use the infrastructure for information as a service from any
platform. Embodiments may be contemplated from the standpoint of an
API (or other software object), as well as from a software or
hardware object that facilitates provision of an infrastructure for
information as a service from any platform in accordance with one
or more of the described embodiments. Various implementations and
embodiments described herein may have aspects that are wholly in
hardware, partly in hardware and partly in software, as well as in
software.
[0106] The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean serving as an
example, instance, or illustration. For the avoidance of doubt, the
subject matter disclosed herein is not limited by such examples. In
addition, any aspect or design described herein as "exemplary" is
not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over
other aspects or designs, nor is it meant to preclude equivalent
exemplary structures and techniques known to those of ordinary
skill in the art. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms
"includes," "has," "contains," and other similar words are used in
either the detailed description or the claims, for the avoidance of
doubt, such terms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar
to the term "comprising" as an open transition word without
precluding any additional or other elements.
[0107] As mentioned, the various techniques described herein may be
implemented in connection with hardware or software or, where
appropriate, with a combination of both. As used herein, the terms
"component," "system" and the like are likewise intended to refer
to a computer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of
hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For
example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process
running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a
thread of execution, a program, and/or a computer. By way of
illustration, both an application running on computer and the
computer can be a component. One or more components may reside
within a process and/or thread of execution and a component may be
localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more
computers.
[0108] The aforementioned systems have been described with respect
to interaction between several components. It can be appreciated
that such systems and components can include those components or
specified sub-components, some of the specified components or
sub-components, and/or additional components, and according to
various permutations and combinations of the foregoing.
Sub-components can also be implemented as components
communicatively coupled to other components rather than included
within parent components (hierarchical). Additionally, it should be
noted that one or more components may be combined into a single
component providing aggregate functionality or divided into several
separate sub-components, and any one or more middle layers, such as
a management layer, may be provided to communicatively couple to
such sub-components in order to provide integrated functionality.
Any components described herein may also interact with one or more
other components not specifically described herein but generally
known by those of skill in the art.
[0109] In view of the exemplary systems described supra,
methodologies that may be implemented in accordance with the
disclosed subject matter will be better appreciated with reference
to the flowcharts of the various figures. While for purposes of
simplicity of explanation, the methodologies are shown and
described as a series of blocks, it is to be understood and
appreciated that the claimed subject matter is not limited by the
order of the blocks, as some blocks may occur in different orders
and/or concurrently with other blocks from what is depicted and
described herein. Where non-sequential, or branched, flow is
illustrated via flowchart, it can be appreciated that various other
branches, flow paths, and orders of the blocks, may be implemented
which achieve the same or a similar result. Moreover, not all
illustrated blocks may be required to implement the methodologies
described hereinafter.
[0110] While in some embodiments, a client side perspective is
illustrated, it is to be understood for the avoidance of doubt that
a corresponding server perspective exists, or vice versa.
Similarly, where a method is practiced, a corresponding device can
be provided having storage and at least one processor configured to
practice that method via one or more components.
[0111] While the various embodiments have been described in
connection with the preferred embodiments of the various figures,
it is to be understood that other similar embodiments may be used
or modifications and additions may be made to the described
embodiment for performing the same function without deviating
therefrom. Still further, one or more aspects of the above
described embodiments may be implemented in or across a plurality
of processing chips or devices, and storage may similarly be
affected across a plurality of devices. Therefore, the present
invention should not be limited to any single embodiment, but
rather should be construed in breadth and scope in accordance with
the appended claims.
* * * * *