U.S. patent application number 13/367207 was filed with the patent office on 2012-06-14 for interactive image-based document for secured data access.
Invention is credited to Adrian Tsang Kwong Chan, Robert L. Goodwin, Michael V. Rykov, Chieh Wang, David Zhao.
Application Number | 20120151334 13/367207 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45532338 |
Filed Date | 2012-06-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120151334 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Goodwin; Robert L. ; et
al. |
June 14, 2012 |
INTERACTIVE IMAGE-BASED DOCUMENT FOR SECURED DATA ACCESS
Abstract
The present invention is directed to a method and system for
verifying a user for copying or printing a limited portion of
digital content while allowing the user to view the digital
content. The digital content may have image portions that are
digital images generally scanned from a printed page of the content
and text portions that are digital texts including all forms of
letters, characters, symbols, etc. An interactive image document
displaying image portions of the digital content is provided for
secure data access to text portions. A user can request and obtain
a limited text portion of the digital content or view the image
portions of the digital content via user interactions within the
interactive image document. While the text portions can be
reproduced, copied, or printed, the image portions can not be
re-used or manipulated by the user due to their non-text accessible
format.
Inventors: |
Goodwin; Robert L.; (Mercer
Island, WA) ; Zhao; David; (Bothell, WA) ;
Chan; Adrian Tsang Kwong; (Bellevue, WA) ; Wang;
Chieh; (Issaquah, WA) ; Rykov; Michael V.;
(Seattle, WA) |
Family ID: |
45532338 |
Appl. No.: |
13/367207 |
Filed: |
February 6, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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11540764 |
Sep 29, 2006 |
8112813 |
|
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13367207 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
715/256 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 2221/2117 20130101;
G06F 21/10 20130101; G06F 2221/2141 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
715/256 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/24 20060101
G06F017/24 |
Claims
1. A computer-implemented method for providing access to digital
content, the computer-implemented method comprising: as implemented
by one or more computing devices configured with specific
executable instructions, presenting for display one or more
portions of digital content, such that text data representing
information in the one or more displayed portions are prevented
from being electronically copied directly from the one or more
displayed portions; receiving a selection by a user of a portion of
the one or more displayed portions of digital content, the
selection indicating that copying text data representing
information in the selected portion of digital content is desired;
and in response to the user selection, retrieving a text portion
from a data store, wherein the text portion comprises text data
representing information in the selected portion of the digital
content; and providing the obtained text portion to the user.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising
verifying that the user has a right to obtain the text portion
prior to providing the text portion to the user.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein verifying
that the user has a right to obtain the text portion comprises
determining if an amount of text data accessed exceeds a
threshold.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or
more displayed portions of digital content are displayed as part of
an interactive image document.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or
more displayed portions of digital content comprise image data.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the obtained
text portion provided to the user can be copied.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or
more portions of the digital content are displayed such that the
one or more portions are prevented from being directly printed, and
wherein the obtained text portion provided to the user can be
printed.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the received
selection comprises a start location and an end location of the
selected portion of digital content.
9. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having a
computer-executable component for providing access to digital
content, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising: a
user interface component for: presenting for display one or more
portions of digital content, such that text data representing
information in the one or more displayed portions are prevented
from being electronically copied directly from the one or more
displayed portions; and receiving a selection by a user of a
portion of the one or more displayed portions of the digital
content; and a content management component for: retrieving a text
portion from a data store, wherein the text portion comprises text
data representing information in the selected portion of the
digital content; wherein the user interface component provides the
retrieved text portion to the user.
10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein
the content management component further verifies whether the user
has a right to obtain the text portion corresponding to the
selected portion of the digital content.
11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10,
wherein verifying whether the user has a right to obtain the text
portion is based at least in part on an aggregated access amount
associated with the digital content.
12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11,
wherein the aggregated access amount corresponds to access to the
digital content by a plurality of users.
13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9, wherein
the one or more displayed portions of the digital content comprise
image data, wherein the retrieved text portion represents
information in at least a portion of the image data.
14. A system for providing access to digital content, the system
comprising: a data store configured to store text portions of the
digital content; a computing device in communication with the data
store, the computing device configured to: present for display one
or more portions of the digital content, such that text data
representing information in the one or more displayed portions are
prevented from being electronically copied directly from the one or
more displayed portions; receive a selection by a user of a portion
of the one or more displayed portions; identify a text portion
which corresponds to the selected portion, wherein the text portion
comprises text data representing information in the selected
portion; verify whether the user has a right to obtain the text
portion corresponding to the selected portion; following
verification, obtain the text portion from the data store; and
provide the obtained text portion to the user.
15. The system of claim 14, wherein the one or more portions of the
digital content are displayed as part of an interactive image
document.
16. The system of claim 14, wherein the obtained text portion
provided to the user can be copied.
17. The system of claim 14, wherein the displayed one or more
portions of the digital content are displayed such that the one or
more portions are prevented from being directly printed, and
wherein the obtained text portion provided to the user can be
printed.
18. The system of claim 14, wherein verifying whether the user has
a right to obtain the text portion comprises determining if an
amount of text data accessed exceeds a threshold.
19. The system of claim 18, wherein the threshold corresponds to
aggregated access of the digital content by the user.
20. The system of claim 18, wherein the threshold corresponds to
aggregated access of the digital content by a group of users.
21. The system of claim 14, wherein the received selection
comprises a start location and an end location of the selected
portion of the digital content.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] As the use of computers and computer-based networks
continues to expand, content providers are preparing and
distributing more and more content in electronic form. This content
includes traditional media such as books, magazines, newspapers,
newsletters, manuals, guides, references, articles, reports,
documents, etc., that exist in print as well as electronic media in
which the aforesaid content exists in digital form or is
transformed from print into digital form. The Internet, in
particular, has. facilitated the wider publication of digital
content, such as portable document files and e-books, through
downloading and display of images of digital content. As data
transmission speeds increase, more and more images of pages of
digital content are becoming available online. Generally, a page
image containing representation of text allows a reader to see the
page of content as it would appear in print.
[0002] Content in a certain digital form, such as images containing
digital text, may be easily reproduced, copied, or distributed once
a person gains access to the content. Given the easy reproduction
capability of the digital content, one of the major concerns shared
by content authors or publishers may be how to prevent unauthorized
copying or printing of the content in a digital form while allowing
people to view (read) the content over a network. Thus, it is not
uncommon that a content author or a publisher wishes to only allow
readers to view the digital content, but prevent them from copying
or printing any portion of the digital content. However, a reader
who purchased a right to read the content in a digital form wants
to have fair use of the content as if the reader purchased the
content in a print form. For example, when a reader wants to quote
a paragraph from the recently purchased electronic publication into
his/her report, the reader may want to "copy and paste" the
paragraph from the electronic publication instead of typing it.
[0003] Currently, most content providers face problems due to these
different points of view of the readers and the publishers. One
major issue is how to prevent illegitimate use of the digital
content (to satisfy content originators or publishers) while
allowing the legitimate printing or copying of some portions of the
content by readers. If readers are too restricted from printing or
copying portions of digital content, they may be discouraged to
purchase the digital content of electronic publications. On the
other hand, the publisher or the content originator may be deterred
from offering content in digital form if there is no secure way to
prevent excessive copying and printing that can eventually lead to
the illegitimate use of the content. Accordingly, there is a need
for system and method that resolves the different points of view of
the readers and the publishers with respect to the use of the
digital content.
SUMMARY
[0004] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of
concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in
the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify
key features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to
be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject
matter.
[0005] In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a
computer system for providing an interactive image document through
which a user accesses text data of digital content is provided. The
computer system includes one or more data stores such as a text
data store for storing text portions of the digital content, an
image data store for storing image portions of the digital content,
and a user and content profile data store for storing verification
information. The computer system further includes a computing
device in communication with the one or more data store(s).
[0006] The computing device is operative to receive a user request
to access a portion of the digital content, process the request to
retrieve the portion of the digital content and present an
interactive image page to the user. When the user interaction
indicating that a text portion access is desired is received, the
computing device obtains from the user and content profile data
store verification information related to the text portion access.
The text portion corresponding to the user interaction is
identified. The user is verified whether the user has a right to
access the text portion by applying the obtained verification
information. Upon verification, the computing device retrieves the
text portion from the text data store and provides the retrieved
text portion to the user.
[0007] In an aspect of the method, the verification information may
include several thresholds for several users' activities. For
example, a total access amount of the digital content, a total
access amount of a particular text portion, etc., and the
corresponding thresholds may be included in the verification
information. The computing device compares the total access amount
of the text portion and a content threshold and if the total access
amount of the text portion exceeds the content threshold, the
computing device denies the verification. If the verification is
denied, the computing device generates a user notification.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages
of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same
become better understood by reference to the following detailed
description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings, wherein:
[0009] FIG. 1 is a pictorial diagram showing an exemplary computing
environment in which embodiments of the present invention may be
implemented;
[0010] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a content provider server in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0011] FIGS. 3A-3C are pictorial diagrams showing interactions
among various components in the content provider server when a user
accesses digital images in accordance with an embodiment of the
present invention;
[0012] FIGS. 4A-4C are screen displays showing an interactive image
document that enables a user to obtain a text portion of an image
page in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0013] FIGS. 5A-5B are pictorial graphs showing digital content
access patterns among various users;
[0014] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an access content routine in
accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0015] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a content management subroutine
in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and
[0016] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a text retrieving subroutine
utilized in FIG. 7 in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] Generally described, the present invention relates to a
method and system for verifying a user's right for copying,
pasting, or printing some portion of digital content. More
specifically, the present invention relates to a method and system
for providing an interactive image document displaying images of
digital content for secure data access to text data over a network.
Through the interactive image document, a user can obtain a limited
portion of digital content for copying or printing after the
content service provider verifies the user's access rights to the
portion. Additionally, the present invention may relate to
separation of a "text portion" and an "image portion" of the
digital content. The "text portion," as used herein refers to
digital text including all forms of letters, characters, symbols,
numbers, formulas, graphics, images, etc., that may be used to
represent information in the corresponding image portion. The
"image portion," as used herein refers to a digital image of
information. For example, the image portion may be scanned from a
printed page of content. Generally the image portion is represented
in a non-text-accessible format. The image portion is utilized for
the user to view (read) the digital content within the interactive
image document. While the text portion can be reproduced, copied,
or printed after a proper verification, the image portion cannot be
re-used or manipulated by the user.
[0018] The following detailed description describes exemplary
embodiments of the invention. Although specific system
configurations, screen displays, and flow diagrams are illustrated,
it should be understood that the examples provided are not
exhaustive and do not limit the present invention to the precise
forms and embodiments disclosed. It should also be understood that
the following description is presented largely in terms of logic
operations that may be performed by conventional computer
components. These computer components, which may be grouped at a
single location or distributed over a wide area on a plurality of
devices, generally include computer processors, memory storage
devices, display devices, input devices, etc. In circumstances
where the computer components are distributed, the computer
components are accessible to each other via communication
links.
[0019] In the following description, numerous specific details are
set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the
invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art
that the invention may be practiced without some or all of these
specific details. In other instances, well-known process steps have
not been described in detail in order not to obscure the
invention.
[0020] The exemplary networked environment 100 includes one or more
user devices, such as user devices 142-146, by which a user (not
shown) can view digital content over a network. The user devices
142-146 communicate with a content provider server 110 that is
responsible for providing images of digital content (image pages)
to user devices 142-146 via a network. User devices, such as user
devices 142-146, are typically computing devices including a
variety of configurations or forms such as, but not limited to,
laptop or tablet computers, personal computers, personal digital
assistants (PDAs), hybrid PDA/mobile phones, mobile phones,
workstations, and the like. While illustrative embodiments have
been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various
changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and
scope of the invention. In one embodiment, the user devices 142-146
can be also connected to a content provider server 110 via a
communication network, such as a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide
Area Network (WAN). In an alternative embodiment, any user device
142-146 can be a standalone user device that is configured to
implement off-line services. The content provider server 110 is
coupled to data stores 120, including a text data store and an
image data store, each of which includes an entry corresponding to
a digital content. As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill
in the art, digital content includes images of any content in
digital form, such as but not limited to, e-books, electronically
published news, electronically published magazines, or the like. A
data store, such as the content data store as used herein, is any
type, form, and structure of storage in which data is maintained.
For example, the data store may maintain data in a database form,
such as a relational database, or as images. Any form, type, and
structure may be used for maintaining electronic
content/information in accordance with one or more embodiments of
the present invention.
[0021] As illustrated in FIG. 1, the content provider server 110
may be connected to online data stores over a communication network
such as an internal network or public network connection. Further,
as shown in FIG. 1, the content provider server 110 may be
connected to several content related servers 125, including, but
not limited to, content originators 130, publisher partners 132,
etc. The publisher partners 132 or content originators 130 may
provide content to the content provider server 110 which will
convert the received content into image portions and text portions
suitable for the data stores 120. Those skilled in the art will
appreciate that the various servers/components depicted in FIG. 1
are illustrative only. As mentioned above, an actual embodiment of
a content provider server 110 may be comprised of a single computer
or a plurality of discrete, cooperative servers distributed in a
communications network. Similarly, the identified components should
be viewed as logical components as each component may be physically
embodied on one or more computer systems as well as combined with
other hardware and/or software components not illustrated
herein.
[0022] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating exemplary components
of a computing device 200 suitable for providing a text portion of
a digital content in response to a user selection. However, the
following description of the exemplary components of a computing
device 200 should be viewed as illustrative only and not construed
as limiting in any manner.
[0023] With regard to FIG. 2, the exemplary computing device 200
includes a processor 202 in communication with a variety of other
components over a system bus 220. These other components include,
by way of example, a network interface 204, a user interface
component 212, a content management component 208, and a memory
206. As appreciated by those skilled in the art, the network
interface 204 enables the computing device 200 to communicate data,
control signals, data requests, and other information with other
resources including computers, data sources, storage devices, and
the like, on a computer network such as the Internet (not shown).
The network interface 204 may be configured to communicate via
wired or wireless connections. As one skilled in the art will
appreciate, the computing device 200 may retrieve a digital image
from a storage device or other source via the computer network, as
well as save the processed converted content to a networked
location or send it to another computer on the network.
[0024] The computing device 200 further includes one or more data
stores such as a text data store 214 for storing text portions of
the digital content and an image data store 222 for storing image
portions of the digital content. The image data store 214 provides
images (image portions) represented in a non-text-accessible
format, such as in a JPEG, TIFF, GIF, and BMP file. The text data
store 214 provides digital text data (text portions) including all
forms of letters, characters, symbols, numbers, formulas, graphics,
etc., that may be used to represent information in the
corresponding image.
[0025] In one embodiment, the computing device 200 may receive
electronic images (e.g., images page) containing text from the
publisher partners or content originators. The computing device 200
separates the text portion from the received electronic images, the
resulting image portion to be represented in a non-text-accessible
format, such as in a JPEG, TIFF, GIF, and BMP file. Alternatively,
content in print form may be received and scanned into image pages
using a suitable scanner input device. The scanned image pages may
be created to be an image portion represented in a non-text
accessible format. The text portion may be generated from the
content in print form. In one embodiment, the image portions and
the text portions are separately stored in the image data store 222
and the text data store 214, respectively. The image data store 222
may be organized as desired, preferably using data structures
optimized for identifying the corresponding text portion from the
text data store 214. In one suitable embodiment, each word in the
text data store 214 has associated therewith content identification
numbers and page numbers corresponding to an image portion in the
image data store 222 where the particular word is found.
[0026] The computing device 200 further includes a user and content
profile data store 216 for storing verification information. The
user and content profile data store 216 enables the content
provider server 110 to control the scope and nature of the content
(image portion or text portion) that can be displayed or presented
to the user. The user and content profile data store 216 may
include information about the user, for example, user profile
information, account information, content purchase history,
illegitimate use history, etc. A user may be permitted to view an
entire image of content, such as a book, that the user already
purchased. For content not purchased by the user, the user may be
permitted to view only a limited portion of the page image or
prohibited from viewing any portion of the content. Other
information, such as information about content, including, but not
limited to, content profile, several thresholds associated with the
content, verification information, or the like, may be also
included in the user and content profile data store 216.
[0027] The user interface component 212 receives user interaction
via an interactive image document displayed on the user devices
142-146. The user interaction may be received from a variety of
input devices including, but not limited to, a digital pen, a touch
screen, a keyboard, a mouse, and the like. In addition to the
exemplary components described above, a content management
component 208 may be used for verifying the user interaction and
identifying a text portion in response to the user interaction. The
content management component 208 may first identify an image
portion from the image data store and then identify the
corresponding text portion.
[0028] The processor 202 is configured to operate in accordance
with programming instructions stored in a memory (not shown). The
memory generally comprises RAM, ROM, and/or other permanent memory.
Thus, in addition to storage in read/write memory (RAM),
programming instructions may also be embodied in read-only format,
such as those found in ROM or other permanent memory. The memory
typically stores an operating system for controlling the general
operation of the computing device 200. The operating system may be
a general purpose operating system such as a Microsoft Windows.RTM.
operating system, a UNIX.RTM. operating system, a Linux.RTM.
operating system, or an operating system specifically written for
and tailored to the computing device 200. Similarly, the memory
also typically stores user-executable applications or programs for
conducting various functions on the computing device 200.
[0029] FIGS. 3A-3C are pictorial diagrams illustrating interactions
among various components in the content provider server and a user
device when a user accesses digital images over a network.
Referring to FIGS. 3A, a user 342 requests login access to a server
310 (e.g., content provider server) configured to provide secure
access to text data over a network. In response to the request, the
server 310 retrieves information about the user, for example, user
profile information, account information, content purchase history,
illegitimate use history, etc., from the user and content profile
data store 316. The user 342 information may be applied to verify
the user 342 to access various content services provided by the
server 310. For example, the server may not allow a user to access
a certain digital content if the user has not purchased a right to
read, if the user has a history of illegitimate use of the digital
content, or the like. After applying the user information to the
user 342, the server 310 determines (verifies) a set of content
services which the user 342 has a right to access.
[0030] Referring to FIG. 3B, after the user 342 requests to access
image pages of digital content, the server 310 identifies and
retrieves image portions of the digital content from the image data
store 322. In one embodiment, the server 310 may verify the user's
request before providing the image portions by checking the
previously determined set of content services which the user 342
has a right to access. Further, as will be described in greater
detail below, the content profile information relating to the
requested digital content may be utilized to verify whether the
content can be accessed by the user 342. In one embodiment, several
thresholds may be specified with respect to a user, a digital
content, a portion of a digital content, or the like. Each
threshold will be used to verify a user's access request. After
verification, the server will provide an appropriate image portion
(interactive image page) through which the user 342 can view the
digital content or select a portion of the digital content for
requesting corresponding digital text. In an alternative
embodiment, the server 310 may identify text portions of the
digital content and after verification, generate an interactive
image page corresponding to the text portions on the fly.
[0031] In an illustrative embodiment, the content profile
information indicates that no user can access the particular
digital content due to suspicious activities of a group of users.
In an illustrative embodiment, the content profile information may
include a content threshold associated with a digital content,
which is used to limit a total value of "aggregated access" on the
digital content. The total value of "aggregated access" used herein
refers to a quantified amount of digital content being copied,
pasted, or printed by users within a predetermined period. In the
illustrative embodiment, the total percentage of digital content
accessed by users may be aggregated to monitor group behaviors of
users. For example, if a particular e-book has been accessed by
five users for a week and each user copied 10%, 25%, 25%, 10%, and
10% of image pages of the e-book, the total value of aggregated
access to the e-book may be 80%. For another example, if a
particular image page of the e-book has been accessed by three
users for a week and each user copied 1%, 15%, and 5% of the image
page of the e-book, the total value of aggregated access to the
image page may be 21%. Based on the previous knowledge, the server
defines a threshold for a particular type of access, such as a
total value of aggregated access, to prevent unauthorized group
behavior by users. In this manner, the server can monitor potential
illegitimate use of the digital content not only by a single user
but also by a group of users.
[0032] In one embodiment, the server may monitor whether the total
value of aggregated access to the digital content meets its
threshold. Once the total value of aggregated access meets the
threshold, the server will apply a set of rules, for example not
allowing any user to copy or print the digital content for a
predetermined period. The result may be stored as part of content
profile information associated with the digital content. It is to
be understood that this implementation of aggregated access value
is just one example. Various user access behaviors will be
monitored and the information related to accessing a digital
content may be collected and analyzed to prevent unauthorized group
or individual behaviors.
[0033] Referring to FIGS. 5A-5B, graphs 500, 510 illustrate digital
content access patterns among various users based on aggregated
access values. More specifically, in FIGS. 5A-5B, a total value of
aggregated access to each chapter of an e-book is shown. In this
example, the aggregated access value may represent what percentage
of each chapter has been copied. Based on the total value of the
aggregated access, chapter thresholds may be assigned. For example,
based on the aggregated access, a general threshold of 30% may be
assigned to one chapter while the total value of the aggregated
access to a popular chapter resulted in a threshold of 60%. For the
purpose of discussion, assume that the content service provider 110
has specified that, if the total value of aggregated access to each
chapter is close to the general threshold, it may be a suspicious
group behavior. As an example, the graph 500 shown in FIG. 5A may
be regarded as indicating a suspicious group behavior because all
chapters have a similar access behavior. In contrast, the graph 510
shown in FIG. 5B may be regarded as indicating a normal group
behavior because interesting, or more popular chapters are accessed
or copied more frequently than others.
[0034] Referring back to FIG. 3C, the user 342 may send a
copy/paste request to the server 310 by selecting a portion from
the interactive image page. The user 342 can select a portion from
the interactive image page by highlighting the portion by the user
input device including, but not limited to, a mouse, a digital pen,
a keyboard, a touch screen, or the like. The information related to
the selected portion, such as information relevant to locate the
selected portion from the image and the text data store 314, may be
provided to the server 310. An example of such information
includes, but is not limited to, X-Y screen coordination of a start
and an end of the selected portion within the interactive image
page, information about the interactive image page, or the
like.
[0035] After the information about the selected portion is provided
to the server, the corresponding text portion may be identified. If
necessary, the server 310 will verify the user access right to the
identified text portion. As will be described in greater detail
below, several thresholds can be utilized for such verification.
For example, a text portion threshold (to limit the total amount of
the text portion accessed by a user or a group of users), a image
page threshold (to limit the total amount of the page accessed by a
user or a group of users), a content threshold (to limit the total
amount of the content accessed by a group of users), a user
threshold (to limit total amount of the digital content accessed by
a user), or the like may be specified. The server 310 will use all
or some of these thresholds to verify whether the user 342 has a
right to access the identified text portion.
[0036] Upon verification, the server 310 retrieves the identified
text portion from the text data store 314. Subsequently, the
retrieved text portion is provided to the user 342, which can be
re-used, copied or printed. After providing the identified text
portion, the server 310 updates the user and content profile data
store 316 to reflect that the identified text portion has been
provided to the user 342.
[0037] FIGS. 4A-4C are exemplary screen displays 400 showing an
interactive image page where a user can interact to obtain a text
portion of a image page in accordance with an embodiment of the
present invention. For the purpose of discussion, assume that a
user is viewing digital images of the "U.S. CONSTITUTION" provided
by the content provider server 110. Within the exemplary screen
display 400, an interactive image page corresponding to a portion
of "ARTICLE I" is presented to the user. In an aspect of the
present invention, the displayed image does not contain any text
information in order to protect the content from unauthorized
copying. However, the user can select a portion from the displayed
image as shown in FIG. 4B. The selected portion 450 may be visually
distinguished from the rest of the displayed image. For example,
the selected portion can be highlighted, underlined, displayed in
different color or font, etc. After the selection, the user may
request to obtain a text portion from the server. In one
embodiment, a certain key combination may be used to indicate a
request to copy, paste, or print the selected portion. In addition,
a menu to select a copy, paste, or print request may be provided
within the exemplary screen display 400. The information related to
the selected portion, such as information relevant to locate the
selected portion from the image and the text data store may be
provided to the content provider server 110. Subsequently, the
content provider server 110 will identify the text portion based on
the information. After proper verification, the content provider
server 110 provides the text portion 460 to the user as illustrated
in FIG. 4C. The user can manipulate the text portion 460 for
copying, pasting and printing.
[0038] Referring to FIG. 6, a flow diagram 600 illustrates an
access content routine for providing an image portion or a text
portion of a digital content to a user in accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention. Beginning with block 602, the
content provider server 110 receives a user request to view digital
content. At block 604, the user request may be processed to
identify which image page of the digital content is requested. Upon
receipt of the user request, the content provider server 110 may
also verify the user request with respect to the digital content.
As discussed above, the content provider server 110 may obtain
information about the digital content, such as content profile
information, a content threshold, any rules related to the digital
content, etc., to verify the user request. Likewise, information
about the user may be also obtained to verify the user request. In
some instances, a certain portion of the digital content is
prohibited from being offered to a certain group of users to view.
In such a case, only the allowed portion will be retrieved and
presented to the user.
[0039] At block 606, an image portion of the digital content is
identified based on the processed user request and the identified
image portion is retrieved from the image data store 222.
Subsequently, the content provider server 110 presents an
interactive image page representing the image portion to the user
within a display window (e.g., a Web browser window). At block 610,
user interaction is received via the interactive image page. An
example of the user interaction may be a request requiring text
portion access, such as a copy/paste request, a print request, etc.
As described above, the image portion or the interactive image page
is purposefully configured not to contain any text. information.
Further, the interactive image page does not have a resolution high
enough for visually pleasing printing. Thus, the user cannot copy,
reproduce or print a part from the interactive image page in
sufficient quality unless a text portion of the part is provided by
the server. In this manner, the content provider server 110 can
control the usage of the digital content while allowing the user to
re-use some part of the digital content.
[0040] At decision block 612, a determination is made as to whether
the received user interaction indicates a text access request, such
as copying request, pasting request, printing request, etc., and
thus, a text portion needs to be provided to the user. If it is
determined at decision block 612 that the received user interaction
indicates a text access request, at block 614 a content management
subroutine 700 (FIG. 7) returns the corresponding text portion or a
notification. If it is determined at decision block 612 that the
text portion does not need to be provided to the user, at block 618
the user interaction is processed and implemented. For example, the
user interaction may indicate that the user wants to view other
portions of the digital content. This user interaction does not
require accessing the text portion. While this user interaction is
being processed, the server may retrieve the requested image
portions of the digital content from the image data store 222. In
some instances, the user interaction may not be processed as the
user indicated. The content provider server 110 generates a
notification to explain why the user interaction has not been
processed as the user indicted.
[0041] After obtaining the result from the subroutine 700 (at block
614), or processing the user interaction (at block 618), the result
(e.g., a text portion, a notification, an image portion, etc.) may
be presented to the user at block 616. The routine completes at
block 620.
[0042] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a content management subroutine
for identifying and providing a text portion in accordance with an
embodiment of the present invention. Beginning at block 702,
information relating to a request for a text portion access is
received. As with FIG. 6, the user interaction received over the
interactive image page may be a request requiring the text portion
access, such as a copy request, a paste request, a print request,
etc. When the user selects a desired portion from the interactive
image page, the content provider server 110 may receive the
relevant information including, but not limited to, X-Y
coordination of the start and the end position of the selected
portion on the interactive image page. In addition, the content
provider server 110 may obtain information relating to the
interactive image page. Further, the content provider server 110
may obtain rules and thresholds to verify the user's right for the
text portion access as illustrated at block 704. At block 706, the
corresponding text portion may be identified. At decision block
708, a determination is made as to whether the user has a right to
access the identified text portion. If it is determined at decision
block 708 that the user is authorized to access the identified text
portion, at block 710 a retrieve text subroutine 800 retrieves the
identified text and updates user and content profile data store
216. The retrieved text portion may be provided as a result at
712.
[0043] If it is determined at decision block 708 that the user is
not authorized to access the identified text portion, at block 714
the service provider generates a notification informing the user
about the reason of unsuccessful text access. As described above,
if the total value of aggregated access to the particular text
portion has met its threshold, any access to the text portion may
be denied for a predetermined time period. Likewise, if the total
value of aggregated access to the particular digital content has
met its threshold, an access to any text portion of the digital
content may be denied for a predetermined time. As described above,
some access patterns may be monitored and detected as suspicious
based on the aggregated access information.
[0044] When a requested access is denied, a notification may be
generated, explaining why the access is denied for a time being and
when the access can be resumed. If the amount of total copy of the
content by a single user has met its threshold (% of the digital
content has been copied, accessed, etc.), the user is not able to
access any more portions of the digital content. In this situation,
a notification informing the user about the reason of unsuccessful
text access may be generated. At block 716, the generated
notification is provided as a result. The routine 700 returns the
result from block 712 or block 716 and completes at block 718.
[0045] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram 800 of retrieve text subroutine for
retrieving a text portion and updating the user and content profile
data store 216 in accordance with an embodiment of the present
invention. Beginning at block 802, the identified text may be
retrieved from the text data store 214. At decision block 804, a
determination is made as to whether the identified text has been
previously retrieved for the particular user. If it is determined
that the text portion has not been previously retrieved for the
particular user, at block 806, the total access amount may be
increased by the size of the text portion. The total access amount
(total aggregated access information) may be compared with the
threshold at block 808. At block 810, the user and content profile
data store 216 will be updated based on the total access amount.
For example, if the total access amount meets or exceeds the
threshold, the content profile may be updated to specify a rule
indicating that no user can access a text portion of the content
for a predetermined period. If it is determined at decision block
804 that the text portion has been previously retrieved for the
particular user, the routine 800 continues to block 812. After
updating (block 810), if it is determined that the text portion has
been previously retrieved (decision block 804), the routine 800
returns the retrieved text portion and completes at block 812.
[0046] As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art,
the total access amount and its threshold described in conjunction
with the routine 800 are described merely as an example. Any
information relating to control, monitor, manage user accesses to
the digital content may be updated (or aggregated by the retrieved
text portion) and compared with its corresponding threshold. The
user and content profile information will be updated to reflect
such information.
[0047] While illustrative embodiments have been illustrated and
described, it will be appreciated that various changes can be made
therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the
invention.
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