Patent ID: 7920845

Claim:
A method of controlling operation of a mobile terminal, the mobile terminal comprising a processing system and a software component having a plurality of operational statuses associated therewith, the method comprising the steps of: arranging the processing system in the mobile terminal to monitor the software component in the mobile terminal so as to identify a trigger for a change from a first, operational status in which the software component is operating and enabling a user of the mobile terminal to interact therewith to a second, different, operational status in which the software component is operating differently than when in the first operational status and also enabling a user of the mobile terminal to interact therewith; arranging the processing system to receive at least one advertisement and display the at least one received advertisement to the user of the mobile terminal when the software component is operating according to the first operational status during the user's interaction with the mobile terminal; responsive to identification of said trigger, arranging the processing system to issue a request message, the request message including a request for user data associated with the mobile terminal; arranging the processing system to retrieve said user data and the processing system transmitting the user data to an authentication system; arranging the processing system to receive an unlocking code from said authentication system and the processing system displaying an advertisement and using the received unlocking code so as to change the operational status of the software component from the first operational status to the second, different, operational status; arranging the processing system to receive a visualization request from said software component when said software component is operating according to the first operational status, the visualization request being for an advertisement to be displayed during use of said software component when operating according to the first operational status; and arranging the processing system to cause said software component to operate according to the second, different, operational status without displaying a received advertisement to the user of the mobile terminal during the user's interaction with the mobile terminal.