U.S. patent application number 14/846467 was filed with the patent office on 2016-02-25 for electronic book rentals.
This patent application is currently assigned to Amazon Technologies, Inc.. The applicant listed for this patent is Amazon Technologies, Inc.. Invention is credited to Mohamed Aakhil Fardeen, David A. Limp, Daniel Benjamin Rausch.
Application Number | 20160055465 14/846467 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46381616 |
Filed Date | 2016-02-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160055465 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Rausch; Daniel Benjamin ; et
al. |
February 25, 2016 |
ELECTRONIC BOOK RENTALS
Abstract
Architectures and techniques are described to rent electronic
books. In particular, a content provider can rent electronic books
to individuals for a specified rental term. The individuals may
have the option to modify the rental term for an electronic book.
The rental term for a particular electronic book may be modified by
extending the rental term of the particular electronic book or
decreasing the rental term of the particular electronic book.
Individuals may also convert the rental of an electronic book to a
purchase and a purchase of an electronic book to a rental. In order
to rent the electronic books to individuals, the content provider
may acquire permission from the publishers of the electronic books.
In some cases, the content provider may acquire a pool of
time-bound rentable licenses from the publishers to allocate to
individuals renting electronic books from the content provider.
Inventors: |
Rausch; Daniel Benjamin;
(Seattle, WA) ; Limp; David A.; (Medina, WA)
; Fardeen; Mohamed Aakhil; (Seattle, WA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Amazon Technologies, Inc. |
Reno |
NV |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Amazon Technologies, Inc.
|
Family ID: |
46381616 |
Appl. No.: |
14/846467 |
Filed: |
September 4, 2015 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
12981056 |
Dec 29, 2010 |
9129322 |
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14846467 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/39 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/0645 20130101;
G06Q 20/1235 20130101; G06F 21/105 20130101; G06Q 30/0601 20130101;
G06Q 30/00 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 20/12 20060101
G06Q020/12; G06F 21/10 20060101 G06F021/10; G06Q 30/06 20060101
G06Q030/06 |
Claims
1-29. (canceled)
30. A system comprising: at least one processor; and memory
accessible to the at least one processor, the memory storing
instructions causing the processor to: receive from a publisher a
plurality of licenses associated with a digital content item,
wherein a first license of the plurality of licenses is associated
with access to the digital content item; receive a first request
from a first client device to borrow the digital content item for a
first rental period; associate the first license with the first
client device; receive a second request from a second client device
to borrow the digital content item for a second rental period;
associate a second license from the plurality of licenses with the
second client device; send a first payment to the publisher based
at least in part on the first license being associated with the
first client device; and send a second payment to the publisher
based at least in part on the second license being associated with
the second client device, wherein the second payment is different
than the first payment.
31. The system of claim 30, wherein the digital content item is a
book, a magazine, a newspaper, a periodical, a journal, a reference
material, a telephone book, a textbook, an anthology, an
instruction manual, a proceeding of a meeting, a form, a directory,
a map, a web page, a music file, an audio book, or a video.
32. The system of claim 30, wherein the first license is associated
with the first client device for a licensed period of time that is
different from the first rental period.
33. The system of claim 30, wherein a value of the first payment is
less than a value of the second payment.
34. The system of claim 30, wherein a value of the first payment is
greater than a value of the second payment.
35. The system of claim 30, the memory storing further instructions
causing the processor to: receive a request from the first client
device to extend the first rental period by an additional period of
time; and send metadata to the first client device indicating
permission for the first client device to access the digital
content item during the additional period of time.
36. The system of claim 30, the memory storing further instructions
causing the processor to determine that the rental period has
expired.
37. The system of claim 36, is the memory storing further
instructions causing the processor to cause the first client device
to prevent access to the digital content item.
38. The system of claim 37, the memory storing further instructions
causing the processor to: increase a number of licenses associated
with the digital content item that are available to the system
based at least in part on the prevention of access to the digital
content item on the first client device.
39. A computer-implemented method under control of one or more
computing systems of a content provider configured with specific
executable instructions, the method comprising: receiving from a
publisher a plurality of licenses to access a digital content item,
wherein a first license of the plurality of licenses is associated
with access to the digital content item for a first period of time
and a second license of the plurality of licenses is associated
with access to the digital content item for a second period of
time; receiving a request from a client device to borrow the
digital content item for a rental period; associating the first
license with the client device; and decreasing by one a number of
licenses available to the content provider to rent out the digital
content item.
40. The method of claim 39, wherein the first period of time is
different from the rental period.
41. The method of claim 39, further comprising sending a first
payment to the publisher from the content provider.
42. The method of claim 41, further comprising: receiving the first
license from the client device; associating the first license with
another client device; and sending a second payment to the
publisher from the content provider.
43. The method of claim 42, wherein the first payment is different
than the second payment.
44. The method of claim 39, further comprising: receiving a request
from the client device to extend the rental term; receiving a
return of the first license from the client device; and associating
the second license from the content provider with the first client
device, wherein the second period of time is longer than the first
period of time.
45. The method of claim 39, further comprising: receiving a request
from the client device to extend the rental term; determining that
a cost of a license to extend the rental term would equal or exceed
a cost to purchase the digital content item; and sending a
notification to the client device that provides an option to
purchase the digital content item.
46. The method of claim 39, further comprising determining that the
rental period has ended.
47. The method of claim 45, further comprising preventing access to
the digital content item on the client device.
48. The method of claim 47, further comprising increasing by one
the number of licenses that are available to the content provider
to rent out the digital content item based at least in part on
preventing access to the digital content item on the client
device.
49. The method of claim 45, further comprising: receiving a request
from the client device to search at least a portion of the digital
content item; sending a search result to the client device; and
preventing rendering of the digital content item other than the
search result on the client device.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 12/981,056 filed Dec. 29, 2010, issued as U.S. Pat. No.
9,129,322 on Sep. 8, 2015, and entitled "Electronic Book Rentals."
application Ser. No. 12/981,056 is fully incorporated herein by
reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] In some situations, individuals may prefer to rent a book
from a content provider rather than purchase the book. For
instance, individuals that want access to the content of a book or
a portion of a book for a limited amount of time may be able to
save money by renting the book, rather than buying the book. In a
particular illustration, students may prefer to rent their
textbooks because the students may only utilize the textbooks for a
specified amount of time, such as a semester or a quarter.
[0003] However, a book rental experience may be inconvenient
because individuals renting books may still need to return the
books to the content provider. In some cases, the individuals may
return rented books by visiting a location of the content provider.
In other cases, the individuals may return rented books by shipping
the books back to the content provider.
[0004] Certain individuals may also find the use of physical books
to be undesirable. In particular, individuals may find it
inconvenient to carry one or more physical books from one location
to another, especially in situations where the books are heavy
and/or awkward to carry. Additionally, the storage of physical
books may occupy a large amount of space. Although, some content
providers have started to offer rental options with respect to
electronic books, these content providers provide limited options
and features with respect to electronic book rentals.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] The detailed description is set forth with reference to the
accompanying figures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a
reference number identifies the figure in which the reference
number first appears. The use of the same reference numbers in
different figures indicates similar or identical items or
features.
[0006] FIG. 1 illustrates an architecture to rent electronic
books.
[0007] FIG. 2 illustrates a model of renting electronic books
utilizing a portfolio of time-bound licenses.
[0008] FIG. 3 illustrates components of a content provider server
to rent electronic books.
[0009] FIG. 4 illustrates components of a client device to rent
electronic books.
[0010] FIG. 5 shows a user interface including a detail page of a
physical textbook with an option to obtain information about
renting an electronic version of the textbook.
[0011] FIG. 6 shows a user interface including information about
renting an electronic version of a textbook and an option
selectable to rent the electronic version of the textbook.
[0012] FIG. 7 shows a user interface including a communication
reminding a customer that the rental period for a particular
electronic book is going to expire.
[0013] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a process for an electronic
reader device to rent an electronic book.
[0014] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a process to rent an electronic
book for a specified duration and to change the rental term of the
electronic book.
[0015] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a process to rent electronic
books utilizing a portfolio of time-bound licenses.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0016] This disclosure describes architectures and techniques
directed to renting electronic books. In particular, a content
provider can rent electronic books to individuals for a specified
period of time. The period of time specified to rent electronic
books may be referred to herein as the "rental term" or the "rental
period."
[0017] Additionally, the individuals may have the option to modify
the rental term for an electronic book. For example, individuals
may have options related to extending the rental term. In another
example, individuals may have the option to decrease the rental
term. Further, content providers may allow individuals to convert
the rental of the electronic book to the purchase of the electronic
book. In addition, individuals may convert the purchase of an
electronic book to a rental of the electronic book for a particular
period of time.
[0018] In order to rent the electronic books to individuals, the
content provider may acquire permission from the publisher(s) of
the electronic books to rent the electronic books. The content
provider may provide payment to the publisher for permission to
rent the electronic books according to a number of models. In some
cases, the content provider may provide payment to the publisher
based on a transaction formula that takes into account one or more
variables. In other cases, the content provider may acquire a
portfolio of time-bound licenses related to an electronic book that
can be used to rent the electronic book.
[0019] Renting electronic books according to the architectures and
techniques described herein improve an individual's experience with
renting electronic books by providing flexibility in the rental
term options offered to the individual by the content provider.
Additionally, a content provider's experience with renting
electronic books may be enhanced by utilizing models for acquiring
permission from publishers to rent electronic books that can
increase revenue and minimize the inventory of electronic books
held by the content provider at a given time.
[0020] Some implementations of the architecture and techniques
described herein are described in the context of electronic books.
The terms "electronic book" and/or "eBook," as used herein, may
include electronic or digital representations of printed works, as
well as digital content that may include text, multimedia,
hypertext, and/or hypermedia. Examples of printed and/or digital
works include, but are not limited to, books, magazines,
newspapers, periodicals, journals, reference materials, telephone
books, textbooks, anthologies, instruction manuals, proceedings of
meetings, forms, directories, maps, web pages, etc. However,
certain concepts described herein are also applicable to other
types of digital content items, such as music, audio books, video,
and other content items that people watch, listen to, or otherwise
experience.
Example Architecture
[0021] FIG. 1 illustrates an architecture 100 to rent electronic
books. The architecture 100 includes a content provider 102 that
may rent electronic books to one or more individuals, such as
individual 104. Content of the electronic books may be provided to
one or more client devices of the individual 104, such as client
device 106. Although the client device 106 of FIG. 1 is shown as an
electronic reader device, the client device 106 may include a
desktop computer, a laptop computer, a smart phone, a mobile
handset, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable navigation
device, a portable gaming device, a tablet computer, a watch, a
portable media player, another computing device, and the like.
[0022] At 108, the content provider 102 may acquire permission from
the publisher 110 to rent electronic books provided by the
publisher 110 For example, the content provider 102 may acquire
permission to rent electronic books 112-116 stored in an electronic
books data store 118 coupled to the publisher 110. The content
provider 102 may provide payment to the publisher 110 for acquiring
permission to rent the electronic books 112-116 according to one or
more payment models 120. In some implementations, the service
provider 102 may provide payment to the publisher 110 according to
a transaction formula 122. For example, when the content provider
102 rents an electronic book, such as the electronic book 114, to
an individual, the transaction formula 122 may be applied to
determine a payment amount to the publisher 110. In certain
situations, the publisher 110 may be provided a flat fee each time
that the electronic book 114 is rented to an individual. In other
scenarios, the content provider 102 may provide a payment to the
publisher 110 based on certain variables, such as a total number of
rentals of the electronic book 114, a length of the rental term,
and the like.
[0023] In other implementations, the content provider 102 may
acquire a license portfolio 124 that can be utilized to rent one or
more of the electronic books 112-116 and determine payment to the
publisher 110 for permission to rent the electronic books 112-116.
In a particular example, the license portfolio 124 may represent a
number of rentals of the electronic book 114 that can be in effect
at a particular time. When an individual, such as the individual
104, requests to rent the electronic book 114, the content provider
102 may allocate one of the licenses 124 to the individual 104.
Allocating the license 124 to the individual 104 decreases the
number of available rentals of the electronic book 114 by one. In
addition, after the rental term expires, the number of available
rentals of the electronic book 114 increases by one. In some
scenarios, the content provider 102 may provide a payment to the
publisher 110 each time that one of the licenses 124 is allocated
to an individual to rent one of the electronic books 112-116. In
other instances, the content provider 102 may provide a one-time
payment to the publisher 110 in order to acquire each of the
licenses 124.
[0024] In an illustrative implementation, at 126, the content
provider 102 may provide content of the electronic book 114 to the
client device 106. In some cases, the content provider 102 may
provide content of the electronic book 114 to the client device 106
in response to receiving a request from the client device 106 to
rent the electronic book 114. In certain situations, the content
provider 102 may provide a portion of the electronic book 114 to
the client device 106. For example, as the individual 104 is
reading the electronic book 114, the client device 106 may request
the portion of the electronic book 114 that the individual 104 is
reading at a particular time. In other situations, the content
provider 102 may provide the entire content of the electronic book
114 to the client device 106 and the client device 106 may store
the electronic book 114 in memory.
[0025] The content provider 102 may rent electronic books to the
individual 104 for a specified rental term 128. The rental term 128
may be a period of time that the individual 104 can access content
of the electronic books, such as 30 days, 90 days, and so on. In
certain situations, the rental term 128 may change. For example, at
130, the individual 104 may modify the rental term 128 of an
electronic book, such as the electronic book 114. The rental term
128 of the electronic book 114 may be modified in a number of ways.
To illustrate, at 132, the rental term 128 may be extended. Thus,
the individual 104 may request to access content of the electronic
book 114 for a longer period of time, such as extending the rental
term from 30 days to 90 days. Additionally, at 134, the individual
104 may convert a rental of the electronic book 114 to a purchase.
In this way, the individual 104 may obtain permission for unlimited
access to the content of the electronic book 114. Further, at 136,
the individual 104 may decrease the rental term of the electronic
book 114, such as from 180 days to 90 days. In other situations,
the individual 104 may convert a purchase of the electronic book
114 to a rental of the electronic book 114 for a specified rental
term.
[0026] The content provider 102 and the client device 106 may also
exchange information at 138 related to digital rights management.
For example, the content provider 102 may provide metadata to the
client device 106 indicating the rental term 128 of the electronic
book 114. In some cases, the client device 106 may utilize the
digital rights management metadata to determine when the rental
term 128 expires and prevent subsequent access to the electronic
book 114. In another example, the service provider 102 may
determine when the rental term 128 expires and send communications
to the client device 106 to remove any content of the electronic
book 114 from the client device 106 and prevent further access of
the electronic book 114.
Example Electronic Book Rental Model
[0027] FIG. 2 illustrates a model of renting electronic books
utilizing a portfolio of time-bound licenses. FIG. 2 illustrates a
content provider 202 that acquires time-bound rentable licenses
from a publisher 204 that are allocated to individuals as the
individuals rent the electronic books associated with the licenses.
In particular, the content provider 202 may acquire a number of
licenses that provide permission to rent electronic book 206 stored
in an electronic book data store 208. The licenses of the
electronic book 206 may be stored in an electronic book licenses
data store 210 coupled to, or otherwise accessible to the content
provider 202. In some instances, the electronic book licenses data
store 210 may store a pool or portfolio of licenses that can be
allocated to electronic book rental customers of the content
provider 202. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the electronic book
licenses data store 210 stores licenses 212 of the electronic book
206. The licenses 212 represent a number of rentals of the
electronic book 206 that may be in effect at a particular time. In
certain situations, one or more of the licenses 212 may be
allocated for a fixed period of time, such as 30 days, while in
other situations one or more of the licenses 212 may be allocated
for a variable period of time set by rental customers of the
content provider 202.
[0028] In an illustrative implementation, when an individual, such
as individual 214, requests to rent the electronic book 206 from
the content provider 202 via a client device 216, the content
provider 202 may, at 218, allocate one of the licenses 212 to the
individual 214. When one of the licenses 212 is allocated to the
individual 214, the number of licenses 212 available to be
allocated for rentals of the electronic book 206 may decrease by
one. In some cases, allocating the license 212 to the individual
214 may include providing permission to the client device 216 that
allows access to content of the electronic book 206 by the client
device 216 for a specified period of time associated with the
license 212. In some cases, the permission sent to the client
device 216 may be provided in the form of metadata of the
electronic book 206, such as one or more keys, one or more
vouchers, one or more tokens, one or more certificates, or
combinations thereof, that can be utilized to access content of the
electronic book 206.
[0029] After the period of time associated with the license 212
allocated to the individual 214 expires, the permission to access
the content of the electronic book 206 may be removed from the
client device 216 at 220. Consequently, the number of licenses 212
that are available for rental of the electronic book 206 increases
by one. In some cases, the client device 216 may send the
permission back to the content provider 202, while in other cases,
the content provider 202 may communicate with the client device 216
to delete the permission from memory of the client device 216.
[0030] The content provider 202 may also rent the electronic book
206 to the individual 222 by allocating one of the licenses 212 to
the individual 222 at 224. For example, the individual 222 may
utilize a client device, such as client device 226, to request to
rent the electronic book 206 for a specified rental term. In
certain instances, the license 212 allocated to the individual may
be the same license 212 that was allocated to the individual 214,
while in other instances a different license 212 may be allocated
to the individual 214. In either case, the rental term of the
electronic book 206 for the individual 222 may be the same or
different from the rental term of the electronic book 206 for the
individual 214. In response to allocating one of the licenses 212
to the individual 222, the content provider 202 may send metadata
indicating permission to access content of the electronic book 206
to the client device 226. Thus, the individual 222 can access
content of the electronic book 206 for the period of time
associated with the license 212. After the period of time
associated with the license 212 expires, the permission may be
removed from the client device 226 at 228. In some instances, one
or more of the licenses 212 may be associated with a maximum number
of allocations, such that a particular license 212 can be allocated
to individuals up to the specified maximum number of
allocations.
[0031] The content provider 202 may also provide payment to the
publisher 204 for the rental of electronic books. In a particular
implementation, at 230, an initial rental fee may be provided to
the publisher 204 from the content provider 202 when one of the
licenses 212 associated with electronic book 206 is first allocated
to an individual requesting to rent the electronic book 206.
Subsequent rentals of the electronic book 206 may be followed by a
royalty payment, at 232, from the content provider 202 to the
publisher 204. In some cases, the royalty payment may be a certain
portion of the initial rental fee.
Example System
[0032] FIG. 3 illustrates components of a system 300 to rent
electronic books. The system 300 includes a content provider 302
with a content provider server 304 that may comprise a single
server, a cluster of servers, a server farm or data center, and so
forth, although other server architectures (e.g., a mainframe
architecture) may also be used. In a particular implementation, the
content provider server 304 may rent electronic books to
individuals, such as individual 306. The individual 306 may receive
the electronic books via a client device 308. Additionally, the
content provider 302 may obtain permission to rent the electronic
books from one or more publishers, such as publisher 310.
[0033] The content provider server 304, the client device 308, and
one or more computing devices (not shown) of the publisher 310 may
exchange communications via a network 312. The network 312 may be
representative of any one or combination of multiple different
types of wired and wireless networks, such as the Internet, cable
networks, satellite networks, wide area wireless communication
networks, wireless local area networks, and public switched
telephone networks (PSTN).
[0034] The content provider server 304 includes one or more
processors indicated by the processor 314. The content provider
server 304 also includes memory 316 that is accessible by the
processor 314. The memory 316 is an example of computer readable
storage media and may include volatile memory, nonvolatile memory,
removable memory, non-removable memory, or a combination thereof.
For example, the memory 316 may include, but is not limited to,
RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory, one or more hard disks, solid state
drives, optical memory (e.g. CD, DVD), or other non-transient
memory technologies. The memory 316 may store a number of modules
including computer-readable instructions executable by the
processor 314 to rent electronic books to individuals.
[0035] The content provider server 304 may include or otherwise be
coupled to a content provider data store 318 that may include a
number of mass storage devices, such as a redundant array of
independent disks (RAID). The content provider data store 318 may
store electronic book content 320. The electronic book content 320
may include content of a number of electronic books, such as
electronic book 322, that may be rented by the content provider 302
to one or more individuals. In some cases, the content provider 302
may acquire the electronic book content 320 from one or more
publishers, such as the publisher 310. Additionally, the electronic
book content 320 may include supplemental content, such as
commentary, annotations, and/or notes associated with certain
electronic books. In certain instances, the commentary,
annotations, and/or notes may be provided by an author of a
particular electronic book or an expert in a field related to the
particular electronic book. The supplemental content may also
include image content, video content, audio content, and the like,
that is related to electronic books acquired by the content
provider 302.
[0036] The content provider data store 320 also stores electronic
book rental licenses 324. The electronic book rental licenses 324
may indicate permission to access content of a particular
electronic book. For example, an electronic book rental license 326
associated with the electronic book 322 may be allocated to an
individual to access content of the electronic book 322. In some
cases, the content of the electronic book 322 may be accessed by
downloading the entire content of the electronic book 322 from the
content provider 302. In other cases, a portion of the content of
the electronic book 322 may be obtained based on a section of the
electronic book 322 that an individual is consuming at a particular
time. In certain situations, the electronic book rental license 326
may be allocated in order to access content associated with the
electronic book 322 via the publisher 310 or another distributor of
electronic books, rather than the content provider 302. The
electronic book rental licenses 324 may be part of one or more
portfolios of licenses that can be allocated to individuals
requesting to rent electronic books. Each of the portfolios of
licenses may represent a total number of rentals of a particular
electronic book that can be allocated at a given time.
[0037] The content provider data store 318 may also store rental
customer annotations 328. In particular, individuals renting
electronic books from the content provider 302 may make annotations
related to the electronic books being rented. In some cases, the
rental customer annotations 328 may include notes, links,
highlighted portions of electronic books, and/or other content
related to electronic books that rental customers may associate
with the electronic books. The rental customer annotations 328 may
be stored by the content provider 302 for access by the electronic
book rental customers. In some instances, the content provider 302
may provide access to annotations of electronic book rental
customers via one or more pages of a site of the content provider,
such as content provider account pages corresponding to respective
electronic book rental customers.
[0038] Further, the content provider data store 318 stores digital
rights management data 330. The digital rights management data 330
may indicate rental term information associated with electronic
books that are rented by individuals from the content provider 302.
For example, the digital rights management data 330 may indicate
when the respective rental term for certain electronic books is set
to expire, an amount of time before the rental term for the
electronic books expires, and so forth. In some scenarios, the
digital rights management data 330 may be metadata provided in
association with the electronic book content 320 of particular
electronic books. In some situations, the digital rights management
data 330 may include one or more keys, one or more vouchers, one or
more tokens, one or more certificates, or a combination
thereof.
[0039] The memory 316 stores an electronic book publisher module
332 that is executable by the processor 314 to acquire permission
from the publisher 310 for the content provider 302 to rent
electronic books. In a particular implementation, the electronic
book publisher module 332 may obtain permission from the publisher
310 to rent a particular electronic book, such as the electronic
book 322, by agreeing to provide payments to the publisher 310
according to a transaction formula. The transaction formula may
include one or more variables that are utilized to determine a
payment amount.
[0040] In other implementations, the electronic book publisher
module 332 may acquire permission from the publisher 310 for the
content provider 302 to rent electronic books by acquiring a number
of rentable licenses for the electronic books to be rented. Each of
the rentable licenses may be associated with a particular rental
term. The electronic book publisher module 332 may acquire licenses
of varying rental terms for each electronic book that is being
rented. For example, the electronic book publisher module 332 may
acquire a number of 30-day licenses, a number of 90-day licenses, a
number of 180-day licenses, and so on, for the electronic book 322.
The electronic book publisher module 332 may also acquire a number
of licenses that have variable rental terms. In this way, the
content provider 302 can rent electronic books to individuals for
rental periods that are customized for the needs of particular
individuals.
[0041] In certain scenarios, the licenses acquired by the content
provider 302 to rent electronic books may be associated with a
maximum number of allocations. In an illustrative implementation,
the license 326 may be associated with three (3) rental allocations
of the electronic book 322. Thus, the content provider 302 can
allocate the license 326 three (3) times to rent the electronic
book 322 to one or more individuals for the duration of the rental
term of the license 326.
[0042] The memory 316 also stores an electronic book rental module
334 that is executable by the processor 314 to rent electronic
books to individuals. In some cases, the electronic book rental
module 334 may receive requests from individuals to rent an
electronic book from the content provider 302 for a specified term.
In an illustrative implementation, the electronic book rental
module 334 may receive a request to rent the electronic book 322
from the individual 306 via the client device 308. In some cases,
the electronic book rental module 334 may conduct a financial
transaction with respect to the rental of the electronic book 322
to receive a payment from the individual 306 for renting the
electronic book 322.
[0043] The electronic book rental module 334 may also provide
metadata to the client device 308, where the metadata indicates
permission to access content of the electronic book 322. For
example, after receiving a request to rent the electronic book 322,
the electronic book rental module 334 may then send the content of
the electronic book 322 to the client device 308 for local storage
at the client device 308. Additionally, the electronic book rental
module 334 may send metadata of the electronic book 322 to client
device 308, where the metadata includes vouchers, keys,
certificates, tokens, etc., that can be utilized to access the
content of the electronic book 322. In some situations, the
individual 306 may specify delivery of the electronic book 322 to
other client devices of the individual 306, to a remote storage
space of the individual 306, or combinations thereof.
[0044] Additionally, when the content provider 302 has acquired
licenses from the publisher 310 regarding the electronic book 322,
the electronic book rental module 334 may allocate one of the
licenses associated with the electronic book 322, such as the
license 326, to the individual 306. The electronic book rental
module 334 may decrease the number of licenses available to be
allocated to rent the electronic book 322 by one in response to
allocating the license 326 to the individual 306. The license
allocated to the individual 306 may depend on the rental term for
the electronic book 322. For example, for a rental term of 90 days
specified in a rental request by the individual 306, the electronic
book rental module 334 may allocate a 90-day rental license
associated with the electronic book 322 to the individual 306.
Further, the license allocated to the individual 326 may be
associated with a variable rental term that can correspond to a
length of time requested by the individual 326 to rent the
electronic book 322.
[0045] After allocating a license associated with the electronic
book 322 to the individual 306, the electronic book rental module
334 may provide the content of the electronic book 322 to the
client device 308. The electronic book rental module 334 may also
provide metadata of the electronic book 322 to the client device
308. In some cases, the metadata may indicate permission for the
individual 306 to access content of the electronic book 322. For
example, the electronic book rental module 334 may send keys,
vouchers, tokens, certificates, and so on, related to the
electronic book 322 to the client device 308. In this way, the
individual 306 can access content of the electronic book 322 via
the client device 308. The metadata for the electronic book 322
provided to the client device 308 may also indicate the rental term
for the electronic book 322.
[0046] In certain cases, the electronic book rental module 334 may
provide a portion of the content of the electronic book 322 to the
client device 308. For example, after permission has been provided
to the client device 308 to access content of the electronic book
322, the electronic book rental module 334 may send a portion of
the electronic book 322 to the client device 308 corresponding to
the portion of the electronic book 322 being consumed by the
individual 306 at a particular time. To illustrate, when the
individual 306 is reading a particular page or pages of the
electronic book 322, the electronic book rental module 334 may send
the particular page or pages of the electronic book 322 to the
client device 308. The electronic book rental module 334 may also
send additional content of the electronic book 322 to the client
device 308, such as one or more pages subsequent to the particular
page or pages being consumed, one or more pages preceding the
particular page or pages being consumed, supplemental content
associated with the particular page or pages being consumed,
predicted content that may be subsequently consumed by the
individual 306 (e.g. predicting a next article that may be read
based on past reading history), and so forth. The electronic book
rental module 334 may send at least some of the content of the
electronic book 322 to the client device 308 in response to
receiving a request from the client device 308 for the content. In
situations where the content of the rented electronic books is sent
to individuals in portions based on current and/or future
consumption by the individuals, the electronic book rental module
334 may send metadata to the client device 308 indicating that the
individual 306 can access the particular portions of the electronic
book 322 requested by the electronic book rental module 334.
[0047] When the rental term for the electronic book 322 expires,
the electronic book rental module 334 may prevent access to content
of the electronic book 322. In some cases, the electronic book
rental module 334 may cause content of the electronic book 322 to
be removed from local storage of the client device 308 and prevent
further downloading of the content of the electronic book 322 to
the client device 308. For example, the electronic book rental
module 334 may specify that a permission provided to the individual
306 has expired and deny further requests to access content of the
electronic book 322 by the individual 306. In a particular
implementation, the electronic book rental module 334 may modify
metadata of the electronic book 322 to indicate that access to at
least a portion of the electronic book 322 is prohibited. Further,
when the rental term of the electronic book 322 expires, the
electronic book rental module 334 may increase a number of licenses
available to allocate to individuals to rent the electronic book
322 by one.
[0048] Further, the memory 316 stores a rental term modification
module 336 that is executable by the processor 314 to modify rental
terms associated with electronic books rented by the content
provider 302. In particular, the rental term modification module
336 may modify the rental term associated with the electronic book
322 in response to a request received from the individual 306 via
the client device 308. In some cases, the rental term may be
extended, such as from 30 days to 90 days. In other cases, the
rental term may be decreased. In still other situations, the
individual 306 may request to convert rental of the electronic book
322 to a purchase of the electronic book 322. The rental term
modification module 336 may also convert purchases of the
electronic book 322 to rentals.
[0049] In order to change the rental term for the electronic book
322, the rental term modification module 336 may modify the
metadata provided to the individual 306 with respect to accessing
content of the electronic book 322. For example, the rental term
modification module 336 may modify the metadata provided to the
client device 308 to provide access to the electronic book 322 for
a greater amount of time or a lesser amount of time. To illustrate,
the rental term modification module 336 may send modifications of
the metadata of the electronic book 322, such as modifications to
vouchers, keys, certificates, tokens, and so forth, to the client
device 308.
[0050] In situations, where the license 326 is associated with a
fixed rental term, the rental term modification module 336 may
return the license 326 granted to the individual 306 with respect
to an initial rental term requested by the individual 306 and
allocate a different license to the individual 306 that is
associated with the modified rental term. To illustrate, the rental
term modification module 336 may return a 90-day license granted to
the individual 306 in response to an initial rental request and
provide a 180-day license to the individual 306 upon receiving a
request from the individual 306 to increase the rental term to 180
days. In this situation, the rental term modification module 336
may provide metadata of the electronic book 322 to the client
device 308 indicating the new rental term, an amount of the
previous rental term that has elapsed, and so forth.
[0051] In some cases, the rental term modification module 336 may
send reminders to individuals that their respective rental terms
are going to expire. In an illustrative implementation, the rental
term modification module 336 may send an email, text message, or
other form of communication to the individual 306 that the rental
period for the electronic book 322 is going to expire in a certain
period of time (e.g. 7 days, 24 hours, etc.). The reminders may
include one or more links that are selectable to extend the rental
term for the electronic book 322. The rental term modification
module 336 may also send notification to the individual 306 that a
requested extension of the rental term of the electronic book 322
may meet or exceed the purchase price of the electronic book 332.
In these cases, the rental term modification module 336 may provide
an option for the individual 306 to convert the rental of the
electronic book 322 to a purchase of the electronic book 322.
[0052] In situations where the rental term is extended or a rental
of the electronic book is 322 converted to a purchase, the rental
term modification module 332 may obtain payment from the individual
306 in response to a request to extend the rental term of the
electronic book 322. Further, in situations where the rental term
of the electronic book 322 is decreased or a purchase of the
electronic book 322 is converted to a rental, the rental term
modification module 336 may refund value to the individual 306
based on the decrease of the rental term. In some cases, the refund
of value to the individual 306 may include adding value to an
account of the individual 306 with the content provider 302 that
can be used for future acquisition of content from the content
provider 302, adding value to an account of the individual 306 with
a financial institution, and the like.
[0053] The memory 316 also stores a publisher payment module 338
that is executable by the processor 314 to provide payment to the
publisher 310 for electronic books rented by the content provider
302 that were obtained from the publisher 310. In a particular
implementation, the publisher payment module 338 may cause a
payment to be made to the publisher 310 each time a license
provided to the content provider 302 for a particular electronic
book is allocated to an individual. In some cases, the royalty
payment module 338 may provide different payments to the publisher
310 for rental of an electronic book based on the number of rentals
associated with a particular license. For example, the royalty
payment module 338 may cause a payment of a specified amount to be
provided to the publisher 310 for an initial rental of the
electronic book 322 and provide payments of a lesser amount to the
publisher 310 for subsequent rentals of the electronic book 322. In
certain situations, the amounts of subsequent payments made to the
publisher 310 for rental of the electronic book 322 may decrease in
steps until a minimum payment amount is achieved. In addition, the
amount of a payment to the publisher 310 may depend on the duration
of a particular license, a maximum number of times that the
particular license can be allocated, etc.
[0054] Further, the publisher payment module 338 may provide a
payment to the publisher 310 according to a transaction formula.
The transaction formula may include a number of variables that can
contribute to determining a payment amount to the publisher 310. In
certain situations, the publisher payment module 338 may use a
transaction formula specifying that the publisher 310 is provided
with a payment of a particular amount each time that an electronic
book is rented. In other instances, the publisher payment module
338 may determine a payment amount to the publisher 310 based on a
total number of rentals of an electronic book, a rental term for
the electronic book, and so on.
[0055] Additionally, the memory 316 stores an annotations module
340 that is executable by the processor 314 to store and provide
access to annotations made by individuals renting electronic books
from the content provider 302. For example, as the individual 306
makes annotations with respect to the electronic book 322, the
annotations module 340 may receive the content of the annotations
and store these annotations in the content provider data store 318.
The annotations of the electronic book 322 may include notes made
by the individual 306, portions of the electronic book 322
highlighted by the individual 306, supplemental content associated
with the electronic book 322 by the individual 306, and so
forth.
[0056] The annotations module 340 may also provide access to the
annotations made by the individual 306. In some cases, the
annotations module 340 may receive requests from the client device
308 for specific annotations of the electronic book 322 and
subsequently provide the requested annotations. In other
situations, the annotations module 340 may provide annotations
associated with a portion of the electronic book 322 that is
currently being consumed, such as the annotations of a portion of
the electronic book 322 currently being viewed by the individual
306. The annotations module 340 may also provide access to
annotations of the electronic book 322 made by the individual 306
via one or more pages of a site provided by the content provider
302. For example, the individual 306 may log into an account of the
individual 306 with the content provider 302 and access annotations
made by the individual 306 via a home page of the individual 306 on
a site of the content provider 302.
[0057] The annotations module 336 may also provide access to at
least a portion of the annotations of the electronic book 322 by
the individual 306 after the rental term of the electronic book 322
has expired. In particular, the individual 306 may still retain
permission to access at least a portion of the annotations of the
electronic book 322 after the rental term for the electronic book
322 has expired. In an illustrative implementation, when the rental
term of the electronic book 322 expires, the electronic book rental
module 334 may modify metadata of the electronic book 322 to
indicate that access by the individual 306 to annotations of the
electronic book 322 is permitted, while still prohibiting access to
other portions of the content of the electronic book 322.
[0058] The memory includes a search module 342 that is executable
by the processor 316 to provide searches of content of electronic
books rented by the content provider 302. In certain cases, the
search module 342 may receive search requests from the client
device 308 related to whether particular keywords are included in
the electronic book 322. In response to the search requests, the
search module 342 may provide content from the electronic book 322,
annotations of the electronic book 322, supplemental content of the
electronic book 322, or combinations thereof. Further, the search
module 342 may provide search results for at least a portion of the
content associated with the electronic book 322 after the rental
term for the electronic book 322 expires.
[0059] Further, the memory 316 stores a digital rights management
module 344 that is executable by the processor 316 to determine
when the rental terms of electronic books rented by the content
provider 302 expire. In some cases, the digital rights management
module 344 may determine an indication of time that has elapsed
since a particular electronic book has been rented. By comparing
this indication of time to the rental term of the particular
electronic book, the digital rights management module 344 may
determine whether the rental term of the particular electronic book
has expired. In an illustrative example, when the rental term of
the electronic book 322 has expired, the digital rights management
module 344 may invoke the electronic book rental module 334 to
modify metadata of the electronic book 322 to indicate that the
rental term for the electronic book 322 has expired and to prevent
further access to the electronic book 322 by the individual 306. In
another example, the digital rights management module 344 may
modify the metadata of the electronic book 322 to indicate that the
rental term for the electronic book 322 has expired and prevent
subsequent access to the electronic book 322 by the individual 306.
The digital rights management module 344 may also send information
to the client device 308 indicating whether the rental term of the
electronic book 322 has expired, such that the client device 308
can perform operations to restrict access to the electronic book
322 by the individual 306.
Example Client Device
[0060] FIG. 4 illustrates components of a system 400 to rent
electronic books. The system 400 includes a content provider 402
that may include one or more servers, one or more data stores, and
so on. The components of the content provider 402 may be the same
or similar to the components of the service provider 302 of FIG. 3.
The system 400 also includes a client device 404 that may be
operated by one or more individuals, such as individual 406.
Although the client device 404 of FIG. 4 is shown as an electronic
reader device, the client device 404 may include a desktop
computer, a laptop computer, a smart phone, a mobile handset, a
personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable navigation device, a
portable gaming device, a tablet computer, a watch, a portable
media player, another computing device, and the like. The service
provider 402 and the client device 404 may communicate via a
network 408. The network 408 may be representative of any one or
combination of multiple different types of wired and wireless
networks, such as the Internet, cable networks, satellite networks,
wide area wireless communication networks, wireless local area
networks, and public switched telephone networks (PSTN).
[0061] The client device 404 includes one or more processors
indicated by processor 410. The client device 404 also includes
memory 412 that is accessible by the processor 410. The memory 412
is an example of computer readable storage media and may include
volatile memory, nonvolatile memory, removable memory,
non-removable memory, or a combination thereof. For example, the
memory 412 may include, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM,
flash memory, one or more hard disks, solid state drives, optical
memory (e.g. CD, DVD), or other non-transient memory technologies.
The memory 412 may store a number of modules including
computer-readable instructions executable by the processor 410 to
rent electronic books from the content provider 402.
[0062] Additionally, the client device 404 includes one or more
input/output devices 414. The one or more input/output devices 414
may include a keyboard, a pointer device (e.g. mouse), a
microphone, a touchpad, speakers, a display device, a touch screen
display, and the like. The client device 404 may also include one
or more communication interfaces 416 to communicate via the network
408 with other computing devices, such as computing devices of the
content provider 402, other client devices, and so forth.
[0063] The client device 404 may also include or otherwise be
coupled to a client device data store 418. In some cases, the
client device data store 418 may be an internal memory device of
the client device 404, while in other cases, the client device data
store 418 may be a memory device that is external to the client
device 404. The client device data store 418 may store electronic
book content 420. The electronic book content 420 may include
content of one or more electronic books, such as electronic book
422, that may be rented by the individual 406 from the content
provider 402. Additionally, the electronic book content 420 may
include supplemental content, such as commentary, annotations,
and/or notes associated with certain electronic books. In certain
instances, the commentary, annotations, and/or notes may be
provided by an author of a particular electronic book or an expert
in a field related to the particular electronic book. The
supplemental content may also include image content, video content,
audio content, and the like, that is related to electronic books
acquired by the individual 406.
[0064] The client device data store 418 also stores user electronic
book annotations 424. For example, the user electronic book
annotations 424 may include annotations provided by a user of the
client device 404, such as the individual 406. In some cases, the
user electronic book annotations 424 may include notes, links,
highlighted portions of electronic books, and/or other content
related to electronic books that the individual 406 may associate
with the electronic books.
[0065] Further, the content provider data store 418 stores digital
rights management data 426. The digital rights management data 426
may indicate rental term information associated with electronic
books that are rented by the individual 406 from the content
provider 402. For example, the digital rights management data 426
may indicate when the respective rental term for certain electronic
books is set to expire, an amount of time before the rental term
for the electronic books expires, and so forth. In some scenarios,
the digital rights management data 426 may be metadata provided in
association with the electronic book content 420 of particular
electronic books. In a particular implementation, the digital
rights management data 426 may include one or more keys, one or
more vouchers, one or more tokens, one or more certificates, or a
combination thereof, that are provided in association with the
electronic book content 420.
[0066] The memory 412 stores an electronic book rental module 428
that is executable by the processor 410 to rent electronic books
from the content provider 402. In particular, the electronic book
rental module 428 may send a rental request to the content provider
402 to rent one or more electronic books, such as the electronic
book 422. In some cases, rental requests sent by the electronic
book rental module 428 may specify a rental term. For example, the
electronic book rental module 428 may send a request to the content
provider 402 to rent the electronic book 422 from the content
provider 402 for 90 days.
[0067] After sending a rental request to the content provider 402
for the electronic book 422, the electronic book rental module 428
may receive metadata from the content provider 402 to access
content of the electronic book 422. The metadata of the electronic
book 422 may indicate permission to access content of the
electronic book 422. The metadata may include one or more vouchers,
one or more keys, one or more certificates, one or more tokens, and
so forth. The electronic book rental module 428 may utilize the
metadata of the electronic book 422 to obtain at least a portion of
the content of the electronic book 422 from the content provider
402. In some cases, at least some of the content of the electronic
book 422 obtained from the content provider 402 is stored in the
client device data store 418, while in other cases, content of the
electronic book 422 may be cached in a temporary memory device of
the client device 404.
[0068] The electronic book rental module 428 may also send requests
to the content provider 402 to modify rental terms of electronic
books rented from the content provider 402. In one example, the
electronic book rental module 428 may send a request to the content
provider 402 to extend the rental term of the electronic book 422.
In another example, the electronic book rental module 428 may send
a request to the content provider 402 to decrease the rental term
of the electronic book 422. Further, the electronic book rental
module 428 may send a request to the content provider 402 to
convert a purchase of the electronic book 422 to a rental of the
electronic book 422 or to convert a rental of the electronic book
422 to a purchase.
[0069] Upon sending a request to the content provider 402 to modify
the rental term of the electronic book 422, the electronic book
rental module 428 may modify metadata of the electronic book 422 to
reflect the modified rental term. In some cases, the electronic
book rental module 428 may receive metadata from the content
provider 402 indicating that the individual 406 can access content
of the electronic book 422 for an extended period of time or a
decreased period of time depending on whether the request to modify
the rental term of the electronic book 422 was a request to
increase or decrease the rental term.
[0070] Further, when the rental term of the electronic book 422
expires, the electronic book rental module 428 may prevent access
to the electronic book 422. In some cases, the electronic book
rental module 428 may modify metadata of the electronic book 422 to
indicate that subsequent access to the electronic book 422 is
prohibited. In other situations, the electronic book rental module
428 may access metadata of the electronic book 422 received from
the content provider 402 indicating that the rental term of the
electronic book 422 has expired and deny requests to access content
of the electronic book 422 after expiration of the rental term.
Additionally, the electronic book rental module 428 may remove
portions of the content of the electronic book 422 after the rental
term expires. To illustrate, the electronic book rental module 428
may delete portions of the content of the electronic book 422 from
the client device data store 418. The electronic book rental module
428 may also send portions of the content of the electronic book
422 back to the content provider 402.
[0071] The memory 412 also stores an electronic book rendering
module 430 that is executable by the processor 410 to consume
portions of electronic books via the client device 404. For
example, the electronic book rendering module 430 may obtain a
portion of the electronic book 422 and render content of the
portion of the electronic book 422 via one or more output devices,
such as a display device, speakers, and so forth. In some cases,
the electronic book rendering module 430 may obtain portions of the
electronic book 422 to be rendered from local storage of the client
device 404, such as the client device data store 418, a temporary
memory storage device, and the like. In other cases, the electronic
book rendering module 430 may obtain portions of the electronic
book 422 to be rendered from the content provider 402. To
illustrate, as the individual 406 reads the electronic book 422,
the electronic book rendering module 430 may obtain content of the
electronic book 422 locally or via the content provider 402 that
corresponds to the portions of the electronic book 422 being read
by the individual 406 and subsequently render the portions of the
electronic book 422 being read by the individual 406.
[0072] In addition, the memory 412 stores a digital rights
management module 432 that is executable by the processor 410 to
determine whether the rental terms of electronic books rented from
the content provider 402 have expired. In some situations, the
digital rights management module 432 may receive an indication from
the content provider 402 that a rental term of an electronic book,
such as the electronic book 422, has expired. The digital rights
management module 432 may also utilize metadata of the electronic
book 422 stored in the client device data store 418 specifying when
the rental term expires and utilize an indication of time, such as
a current time or a past time, obtained via the client device 404
to determine when the rental term of the electronic book 422 will
expire. For example, the digital rights management module 432 may
access information about an internal clock of the client device 404
to determine an indicator of time. In another example, the digital
rights management module 432 may determine an indicator of time
that is independent of an internal clock of the client device 404
and store this indicator of time in a local memory storage device.
The digital rights management module 432 may then compare the
indicator of time with metadata of the electronic book 422
indicating expiration of the rental term of the electronic book 422
to determine whether the rental term has expired.
[0073] When the indicator of time meets or exceeds the rental term
expiration time, the digital rights management module 432 may
prevent access to at least a portion of the content of the
electronic book 422. In some instances, the digital rights
management module 432 may send an indication to the content
provider 402 that the rental term of the electronic book 422 has
expired. In other scenarios, the digital rights management module
432 may invoke the electronic book rental module 428 to prevent
access to content of the electronic book 422.
[0074] Further, the memory 412 includes a search module 434 that is
executable by the processor 412 to search content of electronic
books rented from the content provider 402. For example, the search
module 434 may receive a search request including one or more
keywords and search content of the electronic book 422 for the one
or more keywords. In some cases, the search module 434 may search
at least a portion of the content of the electronic book 422 after
expiration of the rental term of the electronic book 422. To
illustrate, metadata of the electronic book 422 may indicate that
the individual 406 has permission to search at least a portion of
the content of the electronic book 422 after expiration of the
rental term.
[0075] The memory 412 also stores an annotations module 436 that is
executable by the processor 410 to access annotations made by the
individual 406 that are associated with electronic books rented
from the content provider 402. In certain circumstances, the
annotations module 436 may provide access to at least a portion of
the annotations associated with electronic books, such as the
electronic book 422, after expiration of the respective rental
terms. For example, metadata of the electronic book 422 may
indicate that the individual 406 can access annotations of the
electronic book 422 after the expiration of the rental term. In
some cases, the annotations may be stored locally in the client
device data store 418, while in other cases, the annotations may be
stored remotely, such as at the content provider 402.
Example User Interfaces
[0076] FIG. 5 shows a user interface 500 including a detail page of
a physical textbook with an option to obtain information about
renting an electronic version of the textbook. The user interface
500 may be provided to via a display of a client device 502 to an
individual 504. In certain instances, the user interface 500 may be
rendered via a content viewing application, such as a browser
application, of the client device 502.
[0077] The user interface 500 includes a first portion 506. The
first portion 506 includes a toolbar 508 with a number of icons
that are selectable to perform operations with respect to content
viewed via the user interface 500. The first portion 506 also
includes a locator portion 510 that includes a locator indicating a
page of a site being viewed via the user interface 500.
[0078] Additionally, the user interface 500 includes a second
portion 512 that includes a page of a site providing options to
acquire a book, English Literature Textbook. The second portion 512
includes information about the book English Literature Textbook,
such as a list price, availability information, an image of English
Literature Textbook, an option to preview content of the book,
information related to reviews of English Literature Textbook, and
other information associated with the book.
[0079] The second portion 512 also includes an option 514 that is
selectable to indicate a request to purchase English Literature
Textbook. Further, the second portion 512 includes a portion 516
including information about renting an electronic version of
English Literature Textbook. The portion 516 also includes an
option 518 that is selectable to obtain more information
corresponding to renting an electronic version of English
Literature Textbook.
[0080] FIG. 6 shows a user interface 600 including information
about renting an electronic version of a textbook and an option
selectable to rent the electronic version of the textbook. The user
interface 600 may be provided via a display of a client device 602
to an individual 604. In some cases, the user interface 600 may be
rendered by the client device 602 in response to selection of the
option 518 of FIG. 5. The user interface 600 includes a first
portion 606 having a toolbar 608 and a locator portion 610.
[0081] The user interface 600 also includes a second portion 612.
The second portion 612 includes information about an electronic
version of the book English Literature Textbook, as well as, an
option 614 to indicate a request to purchase the electronic version
of English Literature Textbook. Further, the second portion 612
includes a section 616 related to renting the electronic version of
English Literature Textbook. The section 616 includes an element
618 and an element 620 that may capture a rental term for the
electronic version of English Literature Textbook. For example, the
element 618 may capture a beginning date of the rental term and the
element 620 may capture an end date of the rental term. The
beginning and/or end dates for the rental term may be selectable
from a drop-down menu 622. In other implementations, one or more of
the elements 618, 620 may be a text entry box where the individual
604 can enter a particular rental term, such as 125 days.
[0082] The drop-down menu 622 may include a calendar widget that
can be utilized to select a rental term for English Literature
Textbook. In certain instances, the calendar widget may indicate
times when rental of English Literature Textbook is not available.
To illustrate, a content provider may set a minimum or maximum
rental term. In these cases, the calendar widget may prevent
selection of days before the minimum rental term or after the
maximum rental term. In particular situations, the maximum rental
term may be related to a rental term associated with a payment
amount that is equivalent to a purchase price of English Literature
Textbook. In some implementations, the drop-down menu 622 may
include predetermined options for a rental term of English
Literature Textbook, such as 30 days, 90 days, quarter, semester,
and so forth. The section 616 may also include an option 624 that
is selectable to indicate a request to proceed to conduct a
transaction to rent the electronic version of English Literature
Textbook. In some cases, the option 624 is not selectable until a
rental term has been entered via the elements 618, 620.
[0083] FIG. 7 shows a user interface 700 including a communication
reminding a customer that the rental period for a particular
electronic book is going to expire. The user interface 700 may be
provided via a display of a client device 702 to an individual 704.
In the illustrative implementation shown in FIG. 7, the user
interface 700 may include a communication (e.g. email, text
message, etc.) sent from a content provider to an individual
renting an electronic book from the content provider. In other
implementations, the user interface 700 may include a page of a
site of a content provider renting electronic books. For example,
the information included in the user interface 700 may be
accessible via a page including information about an account of the
individual 704 with the content provider.
[0084] The user interface 700 includes a first portion 706 that
indicates a sender of the communication, a recipient of the
communication, and the subject of the communication. The user
interface 700 also includes a second portion 708 that includes the
body of the communication. The second portion 708 includes a
section 710 indicating that a rental term of the electronic book
English Literature Textbook will expire in 7 days. The second
portion 708 also includes an option 712 that is selectable to
extend the rental term and an option 714 that is selectable to
convert the rental of the electronic version of English Literature
Textbook to a purchase of the electronic version of English
Literature Textbook.
Example Processes
[0085] FIGS. 8-10 show processes 800-1000 respectively, to rent
electronic books. The processes 800-1000 are illustrated as a
collection of blocks in a logical flow graph, which represent a
sequence of operations that can be implemented in hardware,
software, or a combination thereof. In the context of software, the
blocks represent computer-executable instructions stored on one or
more computer-readable storage media that, when executed by one or
more processors, perform the recited operations. Generally,
computer-executable instructions include routines, programs,
objects, components, data structures, and the like that perform
particular functions or implement particular abstract data types.
The order in which the operations are described is not intended to
be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described
blocks can be combined in any order and/or in parallel to implement
the process. The operations described in FIGS. 8-10 may be
performed by one or more of the components shown in FIGS. 1-7, such
as the client devices 106, 216, 228, 308, 404, 502, 602, 702, the
content provider server 304, other computing devices, or a
combination thereof.
[0086] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a process 800 for an electronic
reader device to rent an electronic book. At, 802, the electronic
reader device sends a request to a content provider to rent an
electronic book for a specified period of time, such as 30 days, 90
days, etc. At 804, the electronic reader device receives permission
from the content provider to access the electronic book for the
specified period of time. In particular, the electronic reader
device may receive metadata, such as one or more vouchers, one or
more keys, one or more certificates, one or more tokens, and the
like, from the content provider that can be utilized to access the
electronic book.
[0087] At 806, the electronic reader device receives an indication
to render at least a portion of the electronic book. For example, a
user of the client device may be reading a particular portion of
the electronic book and the electronic reader device may receive an
indication that the user is changing pages of the electronic book
or navigating to a different portion of the electronic book. To
illustrate, when the user of the electronic reader device activates
an input device of the electronic reader device to navigate to a
particular portion of the electronic book, a corresponding
indication may be generated to cause the electronic reader device
to render the particular portion of the electronic book.
[0088] At 808, the electronic reader device determines whether
content of the electronic book corresponding to the portion to be
rendered is stored locally at the electronic reader device. When
the content to be rendered is stored locally, the process 800 moves
to 810. At 810, the electronic reader device retrieves the portion
of the electronic book to be rendered from local memory of the
electronic reader device, such as a data store, cache memory, or
other local memory storage device of the electronic reader
device.
[0089] When content of the electronic book to be rendered is not
stored locally at the electronic reader device, the process moves
to 812. At 812, the electronic reader device retrieves the content
to be rendered from the content provider. For example, the
electronic reader device may send a request to the content provider
to obtain content of the electronic book corresponding to the
particular portion of the electronic book to be rendered. From both
810 and 812, the process moves to 814 where the electronic reader
device renders particular content of the electronic book.
[0090] At 816, the electronic reader device sends a request to the
content provider to modify the rental term of the electronic book.
For example, the electronic reader device may send a request to
extend the rental term of the electronic book or a request to
reduce the rental term of the electronic book. At 818, the
electronic reader device modifies metadata of the electronic book
to reflect the modified rental term of the electronic book. In a
particular implementation, the electronic reader device may modify
the metadata of the electronic book to allow access to the content
of the electronic book by the electronic reader device for the
modified rental term.
[0091] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a process 900 to rent an
electronic book for a specified duration and to change the rental
term of the electronic book. At 902, a content provider acquires
permission from a publisher of an electronic book to rent the
electronic book to customers of the content provider. In some
cases, the content provider may acquire permission from the
publisher to rent the electronic book by agreeing to provide
payments to the publisher according to a transaction formula in
order to rent the electronic book. In other cases, the content
provider may acquire permission from the publisher to rent the
electronic book by acquiring one or more licenses to access content
of the electronic book. The one or more licenses may be associated
with a fixed or variable period of time that corresponds to a
rental term of the electronic book. Additionally, the one or more
licenses may be associated with a respective number of allocations,
such that each license may be allocated to rent the electronic book
a specified number of times for the period of time associated with
the respective license.
[0092] At 904, the content provider receives a rental request from
a client device of an individual to rent an electronic book for a
specified period of time. To illustrate, the individual may operate
the client device to send the rental request via one or more pages
of a site associated with the content provider. In some instances,
the rental request may be received in association with a request to
rent a physical version of the book. In this way, the individual
can rent both the electronic book and a physical version of the
book. In some scenarios, the rental term for the electronic book
and the physical version of the book may be different. For example,
rental of the electronic book may be offered on a trial basis in
conjunction with a corresponding rental and/or purchase of a
physical version of the book.
[0093] At 906, the content provider provides permission to the
client device for the individual to access the electronic book for
the specified period of time. In certain circumstances, the content
provider may provide permission to the client device to access the
electronic book by sending metadata of the electronic book, such as
one or more vouchers, one or more tokens, one or more keys, one or
more certificates, and the like, to the client device. The content
provider and the client device may also engage in one or more
authentication processes in order to provide the individual with
access to the electronic book.
[0094] At 908, the content provider receives a rental term
modification request from the client device to change the period of
time for the individual to rent the electronic book. In some cases,
the rental term modification request may correspond to a request to
extend the period of time to rent the electronic book. In other
cases, the rental term modification request may correspond to a
request to decrease the period of time to rent the electronic book.
The rental term modification request may also correspond to a
request to convert the rental of the electronic book to a purchase
of the electronic book. In certain instances, the rental term
modification request may be received from the client device after
sending a notification, such as an email, text message, etc., to
the client device that the rental term for the electronic book is
going to expire. The notification may include one or more options
selectable to modify the period of time to rent the electronic
book. In a particular implementation, the rental term modification
request may be received by the content provider in response to
selection of the one or more options included in the notification
by the individual. In other implementations, the rental term
modification request may be received by the content provider in
response to selection of one or more options included on a page of
a site of the content provider.
[0095] At 910, the content provider provides permission to the
client device for the individual to access the electronic book for
an additional period of time, based at least partly, on the rental
term modification request. In an illustrative implementation, the
content provider may send modified metadata, such as modified
vouchers, tokens, keys, certificates, etc., to the client device to
provide the individual with access to the electronic book for the
additional period of time.
[0096] At 912, the content provider provides an indication to the
client device that the additional period of time for the individual
to access the electronic book has expired. For example, the content
provider may send a notification to the individual via the client
device that the additional period of time to access the electronic
book has expired. In another example, the content provider may
provide the indication via a page of a site of the content
provider, such as a page including information about an account of
the individual with the content provider. In some situations, the
content provider may cause at least a portion of the electronic
book to be removed from memory of the client device in response to
providing the indication that the additional period of time for the
individual to access the electronic book has expired. The content
provider may also deny access to content of the electronic book by
the client device in response to receiving a content access request
related to the electronic book after providing the indication that
the additional period of time to access the electronic book has
expired.
[0097] FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of a process 1000 to rent
electronic books utilizing a portfolio of time-bound licenses. At
1002, a content provider acquires a plurality of licenses
associated with an electronic book from a publisher of the
electronic book. In certain implementations, one or more of the
licenses may be associated with a fixed rental term, and in other
implementations, one or more of the licenses may be associated with
a variable rental term. Additionally, in some cases, one or more of
the licenses may be allocated to one or more individuals up to a
predetermined maximum number of times in order to provide the one
or more individuals with access to content of the electronic book
for the particular rental term associated with the one or more
licenses.
[0098] At 1004, the content provider receives a request from a
client device to rent the electronic book for a period of time. At
1006, the content provider allocates a particular license of the
plurality of licenses to the client device. The particular license
may be associated with a period of time that is the same as the
period of time associated with the request. That is, the particular
license may be associated with a rental term that corresponds to
the requested period of time to rent the electronic book.
[0099] At 1008, the content provider decreases the number of
licenses that can be allocated to rent the electronic book by one.
Thus, fewer rentals of the electronic book can be offered by the
content provider. At 1010, the content provider determines that the
period of time to rent the electronic book has expired. For
example, the content provider may compare an indicator of time with
an expiration time for the rental term of the electronic book to
determine that the rental term has expired. In another example, the
content provider may receive an indication from the client device
that the rental term has expired. At 1012, the content provider
increases the number of licenses that can be allocated to rent the
electronic book by one. Consequently, the content provider can now
offer more rentals of the electronic book. However, although not
shown in FIG. 10, if a maximum number of allocations for a
particular license have occurred, then the number of licenses
available to be allocated in order to rent the electronic book does
not increase upon expiration of the particular license.
CONCLUSION
[0100] Although the subject matter has been described in language
specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is
to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended
claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts
described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosed as
exemplary forms of implementing the claims.
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