Patent ID: 8666908

Claim:
A method for allocating costs to be paid by a drill rig operator associated with the use of a system capable of at least providing access to information concerning an underground drilling operation, the method comprising: drilling a borehole into an earthen formation using a drill string having a bottom hole assembly, said bottom hole assembly comprising a plurality of sensors for providing data relating to said drilling of said borehole; encoding said data from said plurality of sensors using a first processor; transmitting said encoded data to a location proximate the surface of the earthern formation; accessing a first type of information relating to said drilling derived from said encoded data from one or more of said sensors, said first type of information accessed at said location proximate the surface of the earthen formation using a second processor; accessing a second type of information relating to said drilling derived from said encoded data from one or more of said sensors, said second type of information accessed at said location proximate the surface using said second processor, said access to said second type of information being prevented unless a predetermined action is taken using said second processor; paying a fee for taking said predetermined action taken using said second processor so as to allow access to said second type of information, payment of said fee not being required to access said first type of information.