Patent ID: 7039945

Claim:
A method for controlling the amount of time a user spends connected to a data communication network, the method comprising: associating the user with an age group when the user connects to the data communication network; calculating a user's connection time that represents at least an amount of time that the user is connected to the data communication network; comparing the user's connection time with information which represents appropriate connection times for different age groups; automatically interrupting the user's connection to the data communication network when the user's connection time exceeds the appropriate connection time for the user's age group, wherein the step of calculating the user's connection time comprises calculating the sum of one or more connections established by the user during a given time interval; and further comprising calculating an amount of elapsed time between one of the user's connections to the data communication network and a subsequent connection, and multiplying the amount of elapsed time by a constant according to the age group of said user.