Patent ID: 7197708

Claim:
In a server computer system communicatively coupled to the Internet, a method for providing a user with Web-based information associated with program content viewable on a television, said method comprising: a) receiving information at said server computer system via the Internet, said information comprising a channel number for a channel on which program content is being received by a television from a broadcaster wherein said broadcaster does not provide Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) corresponding to said program content, said channel number identified by a set top box coupled to said television and to the Internet, said channel number sent to said server computer system from said set top box; b) said server computer system identifying a set of URLs for Web sites associated with said program content using said channel number; and c) communicating a first subset of one or more of said URLs in said set of URLs from said server computer system to a first computer system that is communicatively coupled to said server computer system via the Internet and communicating a second subset of one or more of said URLs in said set of URLs from said server computer system to a second computer system that is communicatively coupled to said server computer system via the Internet, wherein said server computer system uses information in a first user profile and information in a second user profile to screen said set of URLs and to select from said set of URLs said first subset and said second subset, respectively; wherein said first and second subsets are respectively stored at said first and second computer systems separately from said program content such that said first and second subsets are retrievable from said first and second computer systems without accessing said program content, wherein said receiving, identifying and communicating are performed automatically without user intervention; and wherein said program content is displayed on said television, Web-based information associated with said first subset of URLs is retrieved and displayed separately on said first computer system, and Web-based information associated with said second subset of URLs is retrieved and displayed separately on said second computer system such that different users can view different Web pages while viewing the same said program content on said television.