Abstract:
A method of providing an online verifiable consent from a parent to a minor to permit usage of an online education system and that prevents misrepresentation and unauthorized access is provided. The method comprises establishing a relationship between an adult parent and a minor and based on the relationship verifying whether the adult parent permits the minor access to the online education system. If the adult parent permits the minor access, the method then grants access to the minor to the online education system.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure is directed to software and online services over the Internet. More particularly, this disclosure provides a method and system for securing verifiable parental consent for online system participation by children less than 13 years of age. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE RELATED ART 
     The Internet has become a critical platform for electronic communication and dissemination of information. The Internet services many people around the world in a seemingly endless capacity. We rely on the Internet for information, service, business, entertainment, social, political, and perhaps activities that may not even be thought of yet. 
     The power and convenience of the Internet also bring potential danger to young children using the Internet. The COPPA privacy initiative helps to protect children from exposing unnecessary personal information by requiring online service operators to follow a very strict privacy requirement. 
     COPPA stands for the Children&#39;s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) and is a United States federal law, located at 15 U.S.C. §6501-6506 (Pub.L. 105-277, 112 Stat. 2581-728, enacted Oct. 21, 1998). COPPA is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. COPPA regulation requires online service operators to obtain verifiable parental consent prior to collecting personal information from children less than 13 years of age. Such regulation puts heavy burden on online service operators to find a cost-effective method to obtain verifiable consent from the parents. Many online service operators may potentially spend extensive funds and extensive time to meet COPPA regulation or forgo this business segment altogether. 
     Existing systems try to obtain parental consent by verifying an adult using credit card or similar adult-verifying technique. These systems usually assume a verified adult qualifies as the parent in granting consent to the child for participating in the online activity. This is not always true. While such assumption may be correct in normal cases, the effectiveness of such measure is weak for a child to circumvent the process through misunderstand or to circumvent the process in a deliberate and fraudulent manner. In such event, the online service operator fails to secure verifiable consent from the parent as required by law. 
     The present disclosure obtains a verifiable parental consent prior to allowing a child to participate in our online education system. This present disclosure obtains a verifiable parental consent but it is not limited to online education system and the present disclosure may apply obtaining consent for any other user identifiable website known in the art. 
     There is a need in the art for an online system that prevents misrepresentation, fraud and prevents unauthorized access. There is also a need in the art for a system that does not rely on one entity for a secure login. There is a need in the art for a system that correctly denies access to individuals under the age of thirteen and correctly permits certain authorized minor individuals with access. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of providing an online verifiable consent from a parent to a minor to permit usage of an online education system. The method comprises establishing a relationship between an adult parent and a minor and based on the relationship verifying whether the adult parent permits the minor access to the online education system. If the adult parent permits the minor access, the method then grants access to the minor to the online education system. 
     According to another aspect there is provided a recordable medium comprising program instructions for providing an online verifiable consent from a parent to a minor to permit usage of an online education system. The recordable medium also has program instructions for establishing a relationship between an adult parent and a minor. The recordable computer medium also has program instructions for determining based on the relationship and verifying whether the adult parent permits the minor access to the online education system. The method also has program instructions for granting access to the minor to the online education system if the adult parent permits the minor access. 
     According to yet another aspect there is provided a system of providing an online verifiable consent from a parent to a minor to permit usage of an online education system comprising a first computing device. The first computing device comprises a processor, a memory, a modem, an input device and a communication device. The computing device establishes a relationship between an adult parent and a minor and outputs a signal. The first computing device receives the signal and based on the relationship verifies whether the adult parent permits the minor access to the online education system. If the adult parent permits the minor access then the system provides a second signal. The online education system receives the first and the second signal and grants access to the minor to the online education system. 
     According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a method of providing access to permit usage of an online system. The method establishes a relationship between a first user and a second user and verifies that the first user is a trusted source and based on the relationship verifies whether the first user permits the second user authorization and access to the online system. If the first user permits the second user access, then the method grants access to the second user to the online system. 
     In yet another embodiment of the present disclosure there is provided a system of providing an online verifiable consent from a first user to a second user. The system permits the second user to access an online system. The system comprises a first computing device comprising a processor, a memory, a modem, an input device and a communication device. 
     The computing device establishes a relationship between the first user and the second user. The system outputs a signal and the system receives the signal and based on the relationship verifies whether the first user permits the second user access to the online education system. If the first user permits the second user access then the system provides a second signal and the online system receives the first and the second signals and grants access to the second user to the online system. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
       The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout different views. The drawings are not meant to limit the invention to particular mechanisms for carrying out the invention in practice, but rather, are illustrative of certain ways of performing the invention. Others will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. 
         FIG. 1  shows the network system overview of a configuration. 
         FIG. 2  shows the system services overview for the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  shows the flowchart of the user registration service according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  shows the flowchart of the roster management service according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  shows the flowchart to connect to online education system according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  shows the online consent service according to the present disclosure showing that the parent first registers and associates with the school parent roster before starting this workflow and that the parent can provide consent or revoke a previous consent anytime, and since the student profile in the school&#39;s student roster is a reliable entity, the parental consent is stored in the student profile rather the user profile of the student. 
         FIG. 7  provides the full data model according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 8  shows a general purpose computer to be used with the system of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The detailed description of embodiments of this invention is in terms of processes and logical operations by conventional computers which include a processor A having an arithmetic logic unit, and a control unit, a memory F having a random access memory and a storage disk device, input devices C, and display devices E shown in  FIG. 8 . 
     These processes and operations may utilize advanced devices such as network attached storage, relational database, and parallel computing servers. These processor computing units communicate with each other over local and wide area networks including the Internet. These network communication flows through channels that is enforced by firewalls as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     Turning now to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a client system  101 , the Internet  100 , and an online system  110  having a restricted or private network system  120 . The system  110  includes a server  115 , an application server  125  and a database server  126 . A firewall  111  and  121  is shown as disposed between the internet  100  and the web server  115  and also between the web server  115  and the application server  125  and the database server  126 . Each of the client server  101 , the web server  115 , application server  125  and database server  126  preferably is a computing device having a processor, a memory, an input device, display and modem being connected by a bus as shown in  FIG. 8 . Each of the client server  101 , the web server  115 , application server  125  and database server  126  can also be interconnected through network load balancers and switches as is known in the art. Preferably, a user may login and provide a password to be permitted access to system  110  and through the firewall  111 . Thereafter, the user may further have permission to access the restricted network  120  and enter via firewall  121  and obtain content and data via sever  125  and  126 . 
     The present disclosure preferably provides an additional safeguard and is shown in  FIG. 2 . Only the system can provide an access key for a user to join the system. Individual users must have a prior association with the system whereby a trust parameter is associated with the user (such as attending classes or the like). Preferably, the user connecting with the system  100  establishes a reliable user identity in the system as a user profile must match a known profile. 
     Other systems such as social networking sites can not know if the user registration information is accurate and therefore a user may make misrepresentations to gain access. This can lead to detrimental effects. The Federal Trade Commission has brought a number of actions against website operators for failure to comply with COPPA requirements, including actions against Girl&#39;s Life, Inc.®, American Pop Corn Company®, Mrs. Field&#39;s Cookies® and Hershey Foods®. In September 2006, the FTC levied substantial fines on several enterprises for COPPA violations. The website Xanga® was fined USD $1 million for COPPA violations, for repeatedly allowing children under 13 to sign up for the service without getting their parent&#39;s consent. 
     The instant system uses an access key to connect a user to a system  100 . An access key is generated by the system for each user and is valid for a one-time use to establish the association. An access key can only be generated for a user (a minor student) after a trusted entity (a parent) establishes connection and provides consent. 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing the system&#39;s  100  services overview. The system  100  preferably includes a school administrator user  201 , a student user  202 , and a parent user  203 . Each of the school administrator unit  201 , the user  202  and the parent user  203  may access the system  100  using a general purpose computing device having a processor A, a memory F, a bus B, an input/output device C, a modem D and an internet, network, wireless network or telecommunication communication device (not shown) ( FIG. 8 ), which is incorporated by reference and which is omitted for clarity in  FIG. 2 . An example can be a DELL®, HP®, LENOVO®, or APPLE® computer, or mobile communication device such as an IPHONE®, or BLACKBERRY® mobile communicator device. Each of the unit  201 , the user  202  and the parent user  203  is connected to the internet  200 . 
     The system  100  also includes a registration service component  210 , a login and authorization service component  211  and a school roster management service component  212 . Preferably, each component  210 ,  211  and  212  can be a hardware or a software component. The component  210 ,  211  and  212  may be operable on a server having a processor, a memory, a bus, an input/output device, a modem and a communication device. In another embodiment, each component  210 ,  211  and  212  can be a discrete computing device having a processor, a memory, a bus, an input/output device, a modem and a communication device that can communicate with the internet  200 . Various configurations are possible and within the scope of the present disclosure. The system  100  also includes a memory  220 - 223 . The memory  220 - 223  preferably includes several gigabytes and includes private and public data. The system  220  includes a user profile memory  220 , a student profile memory component  221 , a student profile memory component  222  and a parent profile memory component  223 . 
     Preferably, the components  220 - 223  may be located on one memory component or on discrete memory components located in different geographical locations. The system  100  provides that the registration service component  210 , the login and authorization service component  211  and the school roster management service component  212  are preferably electronic processing services. 
     Clients of the system include school administrator user  201 , a student user  202 , and a parent user  203  which uses thin-client commonly known as a web browser to access the services. The registration service component  210  allows open registration of a user profile for most users and requires a valid access key for students less than 13 years of age. The system may optionally require or upload and include the birthday of each and every student to determine the age of the student. In an alternative embodiment, the system may infer the age via a grade level. An access key can be a single-use 8-digit hexadecimal token that the system generates at the request of a school administrator or a different identification key. 
     The registration service component  210  stores the user information in the user profile  220  database. The login and authorization component  211  provides security for all users of the system. The login and authorization component  211  checks the user profile component  220  for validating user login credential and loads other authorized services for the user. The school roster and management service component  212  allows the school administrator user  201  to manage the school profile component  221 , the student profile component  222  and the parent profile component  223  and generate access keys to for the parent user and student user  202  and  203  to connect with the student profile  222  and parent profile component  223 . 
     Preferably, the system  100  provides access to a minor user  202  to an online system  100  once a parent user  203  or trusted source provides a permission to grant access to the student user  202  and once the parent user  203  is verified as a trusted source by the user  201 . This can be done by a school verifying that user  203  is (1) indeed a parent, (2) has a student in the school and also (3) identifies the specific student  202 . This is more secure than other systems where the system takes the word for the second user to grant access to the first user as the first user can take up multiple identities or have a close insider provide a fraudulent access and defeat the system. The user  201  determines and validates the identity of the parent user  203  to ensure they indeed have a student at the school and have a suitable parent profile in memory  223 . 
       FIG. 3  shows a flowchart diagram that illustrates one embodiment of a method and process of the user registration service according to the present disclosure generally shown as reference numeral  300 . Most users can register a user profile without any third party involvement. Students less than 13 years of age can only register a user profile upon given a valid access key by a school administrator. It should be appreciated that in the present disclosure the methods disclosed herein form no hierarchal limitations and steps may be performed in a different order, or simultaneously, or certain steps may be eliminated entirely and the present disclosure is not limited to any specific order as disclosed herein. Various different configurations are possible and within the scope of the present disclosure. 
     Generally, the method commences at step  305  and passes to step  310  where a decision is reached as to whether the user is an existing or new user. An existing user can simply login to the network system using the user credential shown as step  320  and the user may logout at step  390  ending the method at step  380 . If a decision is reached at step  310  where the user is not an existing user, then control of the method  300  passes to step  315  to register a new user profile. 
     A new user then first selects a primary role and enters a login credential at step  325 . The registering user can optionally enter an access key at step  325 . Thereafter, the method  300  passes to step  330 . At step  330 , the method  300  determines whether the user is a student and whether the method  300  deems that a student role is appropriate. If the user is a student then the method  300  passes to step  335  where the method determines whether the student is under the age of 13. 
     If under the age of 13, the method  300  determines whether the student has a valid access key at step  340 . If at step  330 , the user is not a student, then control of the method  300  passes to step  370  where a user identity is provided. If at step  335 , if the user is not under the age of 13, then control of the method  300  passes to step  370 . If at step  340  if the user does have a valid access key, then control of the method passes to step  370  for the user to provide a user identity. If no access key is provided at step  340  then control passes to step  375  to display an error message and the method ends at step  380 . 
     At step  370 , the method provides that the user identity is provided and control passes to step  365  where a user profile is created and then control of the method  300  passes to step  360  where a decision is reached as to whether an access key is provided. If no access key is provided, then control passes to step  380  where the method  300  ends. If an access key is provided this is indicative of an authorized user and the method  300  progresses to step  350  to connect to the online education system. Then, from step  350 , the method ends at step  380 . 
     The method  300  provides that unless the user is a student less than 13 years of age, in which case the user must enter a valid access key. The system does not hold any personal user information until passing the student role check, age check, and/or access key check. The method  300  then requests the user to enter the user identity such as name, vicinity, email, and phone numbers. Upon data validation, the system creates a unique user profile for the user. If an access key was provided, the system automatically connects the user to the school. 
       FIG. 4  shows the flowchart diagram that illustrates a method  400  and process of the roster management service of the present disclosure. The method  400  commences at step  401  and passes to step  402  wherein the method  400  loads and login data and user roles are obtained. Thereafter, control passes to step  404  where a user profile menu is provided. Thereafter, control passes to step  406  where the method  400  determines whether the user has the school administration role before presenting the menu selection to the user at step  408 . If a decision is reached in the negative at step  406 , then control passes from step  406  to step  404  to prevent unauthorized access. 
     The school administrator can either manage the student roster (step  412 ) or the parent roster (step  410 ). In the student roster (step  412 ) using an input device the user can either create or edit a student profile at step  426 . At step  428  the user can specify a parent of student and add a parent and student association at step  430 , whereby the method  400  ends at step  444 . 
     At step  412 , the user can show the connection status at step  438  and determines whether the students are connected at step  440 . If connected at step  440 , then control passes to step  438  to show the connection status. If not connected at step  440 , then control passes to step  434  to determine whether the student is under the age of 13. If under the age of 13 years, then control passes to step  432  to determine whether the parent has provided consent for the minor to enter the online system. If no consent is provided at step  432 , the method  400  passes to step  438 . If the determination is in the affirmative and the parent indeed provided consent, then control passes to step  436  to generate an access key for the student and control of the method  400  passes to step  442  whereby the access key is provided to the student via printed copy or via an electronic delivery format (email). Thereafter, control passes to step  412  to manage the student roster. 
     At step  410 , the method  400  provides that a user can manage the parent roster at step  410  and control passes to step  414  and step  420  whereby a parent profile can be created or edited (step  414 ) and a connection status is displayed (step  420 ). At step  416 , a student or parent can be specified at step  416  and control may pass then to step  430  to add the student parent association. At step  420  control passes to step  422  where a decision is reached as to whether the parent is connected to the student thereby indicating the desired function of a trusted source for the minor. If connected then control passes to step  420 . If not connected, then control passes to step  418  to generate an access key and step  424  provides the access key to the parent via print or via electronic mail. Thereafter, control passes again to step  410 . From method step  430 , the method passes to step  444 , whereby the method  400  ends. 
     The method  400  provides that the school administrator (superintendant, teacher, principal or other authorized and trusted user) can create a new student profile or update an existing one. The school administrator can specify parent of the student while managing the student profile, which will automatically record the student-parent association. Upon having created a student profile, the school administrator can see the status of the connection for the student. If the student profiles is not connected with any user profile and the student is under 13 years of age, the system waits until the parent provides consent for the student use of the system before allowing the school administrator to generate an access key for the student. The school administrator can freely generate access key for students older than 13 years of age. Upon generating the access key, the school administrator can either email the access key directly to the user or print out and send to the user. Managing the parent roster is similar to managing the student roster except for the age and consent check. Either student or parent roster profile management allows updating the student-parent association. 
       FIG. 5  shows a flowchart diagram that illustrates a method  500  and process for connecting to a school service of the present disclosure. At step  501 , the method  500  commences and control passes to step  502  where a computer system loads the roles of the login user. Thereafter, control of the method  500  passes to step  508  where a user profile menu is provided. Thereafter, control passes to step  510  where the method  500  connects to the online system and at step  512  and access key is prompted. If provided, then at step  514  it is determined whether the access key is valid. If not valid, then control of the method  500  passes from step  514  to step  512 . If valid, then control passes to step  516 . 
     A decision is reached at step  516  to determine if the access key is a parent roster access key. If at step  516 , it is determined that the access key is a parent roster access key then control passes to step  518  where the user parent association is stored. Thereafter, control passes to step  520  to grant a parent role to the user and control passes to step  536  to display a control menu. If at step  516 , a parent roster access key is not determined this indicates possibly that the access key is a student roster access key. Control then passes of the method  500  from step  516  to step  522  where a decision is reached at to whether the access key provided is a student access key. If at step  522 , the decision is reached that the input is a student access key, then control passes to step  524  where it is stored that the user has a student association. Thereafter control passes to step  526  to grant the student a student role and then control passes to step  536 . 
     At step  536 , from the menu control passes to step  528  where it is determined whether the role is a student and if affirmative then control passes to step  532  to show the student menu. If at step  528 , there is no student role, then it is determined whether a parent role is appropriate (step  530 ) and if in the affirmative then control passes to step  534  to display the parent menu. 
     Users having an access key use this method  500  to connect to a school in order to participate in school collaboration activities. A user can enter the access key during initial registration or connect to a school after login to the system. A user can connect to multiple schools if the user was given multiple access keys. A parent, for example, may have children attending different schools thereby needing to connect to each school. Upon enter an access key, the system checks for validity against its active list of access keys. An access key becomes invalid upon first use to ensure one to one association between user and roster profiles. The method then checks the roster type of the access and profile matching before adding the association and appropriate role for the user. Lastly for user convenience, the system refreshes the menu of the system to load additional functionality for the user. 
       FIG. 6  shows a method  600  of providing an online consent service. The method  600  commences at step  601  and control passes to step  602  where a login is provided and user roles are obtained and loaded. At step  604  a decision is reached as to whether the user has a parent role. 
     If a decision is reached in the affirmative then control of the method  600  passes to step  606  whereby a parent menu is displayed. Control then passes from step  606  to step  608  where a student information data is displayed for the parent. A decision is reached at step  610  where a student-user profile is determined to be connected and if in the affirmative then control passes to step  612  to show and update the child user identity. 
     If a decision is reached at step  610  to not show the profile, then control passes from step  610  to step  620  where a privacy policy and term of service is provided to the parent. The policy detail is preferably binding and permits the user to accept the policy and sign an electronic document. Control then passes to step  622  whereby a decision is reached as to whether consent for the child is to be provided by the parent to use the online system. If a decision is reached to provide consent at step  622  then control passes to step  624  whereby the consent is recorded in a student profile at step  624  and then control of the method  600  passes to step  608 . 
     If consent is not provided at step  622  then control passes to step  608  without providing the consent and the minor student will not be allowed access. At step  612 , the parent may update data for the child and control may pass of the method  600  to step  614  where a decision is reached to revoke the consent. If the parent wishes to revoke the consent then control passes to step  616  to remove the parent consent in the student profile and the minor will be prevented from accessing the online system. Control then passes to step  618  to disable the child&#39;s user account and to prevent access. If a decision is reached at step  614  to not revoke consent then control passes from step  614  to step  608 . At step  602 , the user may logout at step  626  whereby the method  600  ends at step  628 . 
     The method  600  illustrates the workflow for a parent to either allow or disallow a child to use the network online system. The method  600  starts with the parent checking the child info. The method  600  first loads the requested student profile associated with the parent profile. If the student profile is not yet connected to the child&#39;s user profile as in the initial case, then the child profile do not yet have the parental consent. The method  600  presents the privacy policy and term of service to the parent for review and approval and prompts the parent for the consent approval. If the parent provides consent, then the system records the consent in the student profile. If the parent later decides to revoke such consent, the parent can do so as illustrated in the alternative workflow. Revoking parental consent removes the previously stored consent record in the student profile and disables the child&#39;s user account. 
       FIG. 7  shows a data model generally shown as reference numeral  700  having a user table  702 , a user_student table  704  and a user_parent table  706 . User table  702  includes a link to user_student table  704  and user_parent table  706  and links to student and parent table  708 , and  706 . The schema definition in the diagram shows a reference implementation of the present disclosure. Actual data field size, type, name, or additional columns are derivatives and are not limiting. The data model can persist in a relational database, flat file, local or network storage without changing the data model design. 
     The student table and parent table is shown as reference numeral  708  and  710 . Every user participating in the system has a user profile stored in a user table  702 . The user profile holds information provided by the user at the time of registration. The user profile is enabled by default but can be disabled by the parent of the child or by the system administrator. The student and parent profiles  708  and  710  are owned and managed by the school administrator. The school administrator also manages the parent_student relationship generally shown as reference numeral  712 . In order for a student or parent to participate in school activities, a user_student  704  or a user_parent  706  association must exist thereby linking the profiles. Such association is established as illustrated in  FIG. 5  above. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 8 , there is shown a general purpose computer  10  to be used with certain aspects of the system  100  of  FIG. 1  and method of the present disclosure. It should be appreciated that the present system to provide a secure access using a trusted source may be implemented on a computer system  10 . The computer system  10  preferably includes the generic components of most general purpose computers. 
     The computer system  10  comprises an interconnection mechanism, such as a bus B, or circuitry which couples to an input device C, such as a keyboard or touch screen interface. The system  10  also has a processor A (such as a microprocessor having an arithmetic logic unit, a register and a control unit). The computer  10  also includes a storage device or memory F (such as a computer disk for a main memory and secondary storage) and an optional output device such as a monitor or screen E. Generally, the bus B may be connected to a network G or the internet via modem D. In this manner, the device  10  can be controlled by the processor A to execute program instructions as indicated above which are stored on the memory F and which can be communicated to the network G from modem D to provide data to a second computing device. 
     Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense, as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of “including, but not limited to.” As used herein, the terms “connected,” “coupled,” or any variant thereof, means any connection or coupling, either direct or indirect, between two or more elements; the coupling of connection between the elements can be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. 
     Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below,” and words of similar import, when used in this application, shall refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. Where the context permits, words in the above Detailed Description using the singular or plural number may also include the plural or singular number respectively. The word “or,” in reference to a list of two or more items, covers all of the following interpretations of the word: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list, and any combination of the items in the list. 
     The above detailed description of embodiments of the invention is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed above. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, the invention are described above for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. 
     Changes can be made to the invention in light of the above Detailed Description. While the above description describes certain embodiments of the invention, and describes the best mode contemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, the invention can be practiced in many ways. Details of the parental consent system described above may vary considerably in its implementation details, while still being encompassed by the invention disclosed herein. 
     As noted above, particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology is associated. In general, the terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Description section explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope of the invention encompasses not only the disclosed embodiments, but also all equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the invention under the claims. 
     All of the above patents and applications and other references, including any that may be listed in accompanying filing papers, are incorporated herein by reference. Aspects of the invention can be modified, if necessary, to employ the systems, functions, and concepts of the various references described above to provide yet further embodiments of the invention. 
     While this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that is made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.