Abstract:
Several commercial models relating to the payment for online content are disclosed herein. In lieu of prior art username/password combinations to gain access to exclusive on-line content, a tangible asset, namely a smart card, is used. Access is automatically granted when the smart card is inserted into a reader attached to the user&#39;s PC, and cut off when the smart card is removed from the reader. In this new model, the smart card provides a tangible, saleable, value-carrying asset that can be retailed, or otherwise distributed, which grants access to exclusive on-line content.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates to the delivery of, access to and payment for content which is delivered on-line and, in particular, which is delivered via the Internet.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    This invention is related to the use of smart cards for the purpose of gaining access to various content available online. Payment for online content is well known in the prior art. It is common for services or exclusive content to be delivered over the Internet for some form of payment. For example, many newspapers or magazines will allow access to exclusive content-bearing sites in exchange for the payment of a fee. Likewise, it is also possible to pay for and download digital products, for example music and software, from the Internet. An example of a for-fee online service is software support.  
           [0003]    All of the currently known forms of content and service delivery online in exchange for the payment of a fee have one thing in common, that is, the granting of access to the services, product or content is typically enabled via a username and/or password combination. Thus, when payment is rendered, the user is provided with a username and/or password which is used to access the service, content or product online.  
           [0004]    Likewise, the use of smart cards for certain applications is also well known in the prior art. Currently, there are prior art examples of the use of smart cards as vehicles for the payment of online services. For example, American Express and Visa are currently utilizing smart cards with certain merchants whereby payment is rendered to the merchant from the user by inserting a smart card into a special reader attached to the user&#39;s PC. The card is authenticated by an authentication server at the site owned by the credit card company and a data packet is sent to the user, which is then forwarded to the merchant as a form of payment. The merchant then forwards the data pack to the credit card provider in exchange for the transfer of funds from the credit card company to the merchant. This obviates the need for the user to type in the actual credit card account number and also helps prevent fraud because the credit card number is not transmitted to the merchant from the user over the Internet.  
           [0005]    Additionally, certain smart cards are in use that provide assistance in on-line game playing. For example, a player can log onto a site and play a game, and the results or points are transmitted back to the user&#39;s personal computer (PC) and stored on a smart card. Likewise, a user could pause an online game and the current state of the game could be saved on the user&#39;s smart card, such that the user could restart the game at some future time.  
           [0006]    Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,995,695 (Experton) assigned to Humetrix, Inc. of San Diego, Calif., outlines a method whereby a smart card is inserted into a reader which causes an automatic launching of an Internet browser and provides on-line access to data associated with the user. That patent is hereby incorporated by reference. The main purpose of the Experton patent is for access to medical records online.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    The on-line content delivery and smart card technologies outlined herein have been combined into a new business model for revenue generation through the selling of access via smart cards. Disclosed herein, using several exemplary models, is a method wherein a smart card is sold as a tangible asset which grants access to intangible, and preferably exclusive, online content. Several models are presented as embodiments of the invention.  
           [0008]    In the first model, the user purchases a smart card which, when inserted into a smart card reader, grants the user access to an exclusive site on the Internet not available to the general public. At the site is static content. An example of such a card would be the sale of the smart card in lieu of a compact disc, whereby the user inserts the card into the reader to gain access to a site containing music files from an artist&#39;s newly released album. Another example of use under this model would be as a key to access exclusive content on a celebrity&#39;s website, for example, videos, photographs, sound bytes, etc., that would not otherwise be available to the general public.  
           [0009]    In a second model, the smart card is sold as a means for accessing a subscription to a service. For example, a smart card is purchased that allows a six month subscription to an online version of a newspaper, such as the Wall Street Journal. The user is able to access each day&#39;s edition of the paper only when the smart card is inserted into a reader attached to the user&#39;s PC.  
           [0010]    In a third embodiment of the invention, a model is provided whereby access to downloadable products is made available through the purchase of a smart card. For example, a user buys a new computer and a smart card is shipped with the computer which allows downloads of a pre-determined number of free software applications from an exclusive downloading site. In another example, a user purchases a smart card at a media store which allows a pre-determined number of downloads of music files from a site containing a large library of music files.  
           [0011]    In a final embodiment of the invention, a card is provided which automatically customizes the Internet browser being used by the user, by providing a new “skin” and providing buttons on the face of the browser for access to specific sites. This is particularly useful for children in that it makes it easy for them to access specific sites on the Internet without typing cumbersome universal resource locators (URLs) and provides a certain amount of parental control by limiting the sites that the child can access. As an example of this, when a child inserts a card associated with a particular cartoon character into the reader, the Internet browser is launched having a skin decorated with images of the cartoon character and one or more buttons allowing access to various pages featuring that cartoon character.  
           [0012]    The embodiments of the invention presented herein would all be implemented in the prior art through the use of a username/password combination which is provided to the user after the payment of a fee. The new models of the invention substitute the sale of a tangible item, namely the smart card, in place of the intangible username password combination.  
           [0013]    In all models presented herein, the smart card must be present in a smart card reader attached to the user&#39;s PC while access is granted. Once the smart card is removed from the card reader, access is cut off. These models thereby provide several advantages over the prior art username/password combination. First, the physicality of the smart card associates a value with the smart card that is absent with the username/password model. Second, a username/password combination can be shared with other people without the loss of access for the original owner. The smart card is a tangible item that cannot be given to another person without a loss of access for the giver of the card. Therefore, the models presented herein help to reduce fraud through password sharing associated with the prior art methods of access. Lastly, a customized smart card can be retailed by the manufacturer and physically sold and advertised in stores, whereas the prior art username/password combination model does not provide such an opportunity.  
           [0014]    We have presented several novel models wherein a salable, value-carrying tangible asset is used to provide access to online content. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0015]    [0015]FIG. 1 is a system-wide view of components necessary to practice the invention or implement the models of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0016]    [0016]FIG. 1 shows an exemplary configuration on which the models of this invention could operate. At the center of the system is Internet  20 . Connected to Internet  20  is user PC  10 , having smart card reader  12  connected thereto and client software  16  running thereon. Smart card  14  is typically distributed by content providers by sale, promotional giveaway or via some other means. Smart card reader  12  and client software  16  may be distributed directly with smart card  14 , or separately. Smart card  14  and smart card reader  12  may optionally be decorated with advertisements or logos related to the type of content being sold.  
         [0017]    Content is served to users at user PC  10  from content server  40  over Internet  20 . Also connected to Internet  20  is authentication server  30 , having a database of users  34  and a hardware security module  32  attached thereto.  
         [0018]    In operation, the user inserts smart card  14  into smart card reader  12  connected to user PC  10 . Client software  16  detects the presence of smart card  14  in smart card reader  12  and initiates a application which causes an Internet browser to be started on user PC  10 . User PC  10  then contacts authentication server  30  through Internet  20  A serial number  48  and an encrypted certificate  49  are sent to authentication server  30 .  
         [0019]    Authentication server  30  authenticates smart card  14  by running an encryption algorithm which takes as inputs serial number  48 , encrypted certificate  49  and a master key  53 , which is known only to authentication server  30 . Hardware security module  32  assists authentication server  30  in verifying the authenticity of smart card  14 . Hardware security module  32  may be, for example, an nForce™ Secure SSL Accelerator made by nCipher Inc. of Woburn, Mass., and assists authentication server  30  in the mathematically intense calculations needed to perform encryption and decryption.  
         [0020]    Any one of many well known encryption algorithms could be used to verify the authenticity of smart card  14 . For example, master key  53  and serial number  48  may be used to generate encrypted certificate  49 , which is stored on smart card  14  along with serial number  48 . When authentication server  30  receives serial number  48  and encrypted certificate  49 , it can apply master key  53  to verify the identity of smart card  14 .  
         [0021]    Once smart card  14  is authenticated, authorization server  30  provides the URL  50  of content server  40  to user PC  10  through Internet  20 . Additionally, an encrypted authentication ticket  52  is sent to user PC  10 . Authentication ticket  52  is typically in the form of a cookie which is placed on user PC  10 , and may be encrypted using any one of a number of well known private key encryption algorithms. Once user PC  10  has knowledge of URL  50 , content server  40  is accessed via the browser running on user PC  10  in a manner which is well known in the art, and authentication ticket  52  is sent to content server  42 . Authentication ticket  42  must be utilized to gain access to content server  42  within a predetermined, limited time of its creation, otherwise authentication ticket  42  may expire, in which case client software  16  will delete authentication ticket  52  from user PC  10 . Additionally, authentication ticket  52  is only valid while smart card  14  is inserted into smart card reader  12 . Should smart card  14  be removed from smart card reader  12 , client software  16  will disconnect user PC  10  from content server  42  and delete authentication ticket  52  from user PC  10 . Therefore, smart card  14  can only be used from one PC at any given time.  
         [0022]    Content server  40  shared the private key used to encrypt authentication ticket  52  with authentication server  30 . Therefore, content server  40  can decrypt authentication ticket  52 . Once a valid decryption has occurred, content server  40  verifies that smart card  14  has the right to access the online content, and provides access to the user. Content server  40  may deny access for any one of a number of reasons. For example, the user&#39;s right to access the content may be on a subscription basis, wherein the subscription expires after a given period of time, after a predetermined number of accesses or after a predetermined amount of cumulative access time. Should any of these be exceeded, content server  40  may deny access. Alternatively, authentication server  30  may have knowledge of previous accesses using a particular smart card  14 , and may deny authentication based on these criteria. However, this embodiment requires communication between content server  40  and authentication server  30  to share data regarding accesses using particular smart cards  40 . It is also possible that authentication server  30  and content server  40  could be co-located or running on the same computer. Content server  40  may optionally have a hardware security module  42  to assist it in decrypting authentication tickets  52 .  
         [0023]    The novelty of this particular invention lies in the different models used for accessing content on content server  40 . In the first and primary embodiment of the invention, access is granted to the content on content server  40 , which is an exclusive website containing any type of content. In this model, content on the exclusive site served by content server  40  is provided to the user until the user dismisses the browser or removes smart card  14  from smart card reader  12 . Alternatively, access to the exclusive site maybe withheld at the expiration of the encrypted authentication ticket  52  and, in certain circumstances, the provider of smart card  14  may wish to limit access of the holder of smart card  14  to a limited period of time or a limited cumulative period of time over several access attempts. In this case, the expiration of authentication ticket  52  would be set to the limit of the allowed accesses or the time remaining for access minus the access time already used in previous access attempts.  
         [0024]    In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the access model is for a subscription service. Typically, in this model, content on content server  40  would be changed or updated periodically. In this model, authentication server  30  determines if the security data on smart card  14  is valid and, in addition, the number of times or the accumulated time that smart card  14  has previously accessed content server  40 . If the security data on smart card  14  is valid, and the previous number of accesses or the accumulated access time is within the designated threshold, authentication server  30  provides URL  50  and encrypted authentication ticket  52  to user PC  10 . Access is allowed by content server  40  until smart card  14  is withdrawn from smart card reader  12  or until encrypted authentication ticket  42  expires. In this model, it may be necessary for content server  40  to provide information to authentication server  30  regarding the total time that the user has accessed the system. Alternatively, this information can be stored directly on smart card  14 .  
         [0025]    In a third embodiment of the invention, smart card  14  provides access to a downloadable product stored on content server  40 . Once content server  40  validates encrypted authentication ticket  52  and grants access, the user may download files containing downloadable content which can be in the form of files containing text, audio, video or application software. Once the user chooses to download a file, the file is transferred from content server  40  to user PC  10  via any standard Internet protocol for file transfer, such as FTP. In this model, it is necessary to keep track of the previous downloads of the user and, therefore, this information may be transferred from content server  40  authentication server  30  or the information may be stored directly on smart card  14 . Access in this model may be limited, for example, to a pre-determined period of time or a pre-determined number of downloads.  
         [0026]    In yet another embodiment of the invention, a customized Internet browser is provided to the user. The customized browser may be stored in the memory on smart card  14  and loaded each time smart card  14  is inserted into smart card reader  12 . Alternatively, the customized browser may be installed from a CD-ROM as part of the install process whereby client software  16  is installed, or by downloading from the Internet. Once the security data on smart card  14  is authenticated by authentication server  30  and access is granted to content server  40  by means previously discussed, the user will have access to specialized sites via various buttons on the customized browser. Additionally, customized browser may be decorated with a specialized “skin” related to the content on content server  40 . As in previous models, access to content server  40  is terminated when smart card  14  is withdrawn from smart card reader  12  or at the expiration of authentication ticket  52 .  
         [0027]    Several models have been presented for the use of a smart card for granting access to on-line content. The hardware used to describe these models is not meant to limit the scope of the invention, and other configurations are possible. For example, authentication server  30  and content server  40  may be combined into one machine. Additionally, other communications networks other than the Internet may be used to connect the content server with the user&#39;s PC. The actual scope of the invention is embodied in the claims which follow.