Patent ID: 7818763

Claim:
A method for playing a video program for a user that has an associated commercial that can be avoided to some extent if the user is authorized, the method comprising: receiving the video program; providing the video program for display with a video player; receiving control information for the associated commercial, wherein: the control information indicates a portion of the video program that contains the associated commercial, and the control information is at least partially encrypted; detecting a request from the user to temporally manipulate playback of the video program, wherein the request to temporally manipulate playback comprises at least one of a request to fast forward or a request to skip forward in the video program; determining a playback point in the video program for the associated commercial; correlating the request to temporally manipulate playback to the portion of the video program containing the associated commercial; determining if the user is authorized to avoid normal playback of the associated commercial; temporally manipulating the playback of the video program according to the request to temporally manipulate playback for portions of the video program not indicated by the control information to be the associated commercial; and stopping temporally manipulating the playback of the video program upon reaching the portion of the video program indicated by the control information to be the associated commercial and beginning normal playback of the video program if the user is not authorized to avoid normal playback of the associated commercial.