EP1224586A1 - A charging method and system - Google Patents
A charging method and systemInfo
- Publication number
- EP1224586A1 EP1224586A1 EP00930884A EP00930884A EP1224586A1 EP 1224586 A1 EP1224586 A1 EP 1224586A1 EP 00930884 A EP00930884 A EP 00930884A EP 00930884 A EP00930884 A EP 00930884A EP 1224586 A1 EP1224586 A1 EP 1224586A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- affiliate
- content
- record
- access
- user
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q30/00—Commerce
- G06Q30/06—Buying, selling or leasing transactions
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- G06Q20/00—Payment architectures, schemes or protocols
- G06Q20/38—Payment protocols; Details thereof
- G06Q20/40—Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a method and system for charging for use of a communications network, such as the Internet.
- the applicant has developed a method and system to provide users with access to certain content, without attracting the session connection charge, as described in the specification of International Patent Application No. PCT/AU00/00418, herein incorporated by reference and referred to as "the access system specification".
- the "free" content can be provided by organisations or individuals that are considered to be affiliates or associates of the ISP. The cost of providing the connection to the free content however still needs to be recovered by the ISP. Also the affiliates, in return for providing the free content, will wish to receive information which indicates that they are deriving a benefit from the affiliation with the ISP. It is desired to provide a method and system for charging which addresses the above problems or at least provides a useful alternative to existing charging methods or systems.
- a charging method including: maintaining a record of content of a communications network accessed by a user of the network; determining if said content is affiliate content; generating a charge for an affiliate based on access of said affiliate content; and generating a charge for said user based on access of other content of said record.
- the present invention also provides a charging method, including: maintaining a record of content of a communications network accessed by a user of the network; determining on the basis of said record a charge for an affiliate based on access of content associated with said affiliate; and determining on the basis of said record a charge for said user based on access of other content of said record.
- the present invention also provides a charging system and charging software for executing steps of the method.
- Figure 1 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a communications network access system
- Figure 2 is a flow diagram of a preferred embodiment of a charging method executed by the system.
- a communications access system includes a plurality of remote access servers (RASs) 4, a layer four or higher switch 6, a database server 8, a web server system 10 and a router 12.
- the RASs 4 are provided to allow the computers 14 of remote users to dial into the system using standard telecommunication lines and modems and connect to the input ports of the RASs 4, respectively.
- the RAS 4 and the user's computer 14 establish a unique TCP/IP session and the IP traffic for that session is switched by the switch 6.
- the user's computer 14 is allowed to access requested data on the Internet 16.
- the web server system 10 is used to control pages presented to a user 14 connected to the RAS 4 and handle authentication using a member profile database maintained on the database server 8, as described below.
- a RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial In User Service) authentication server 1 1 is also provided for use in authentication.
- the equipment 4. 6, 8, 10, 1 1 and 12 of the access system is part of the Internet.
- the equipment 4 to 12 preferably includes standard commercially available hardware and basic database, web server and Internet access software which is known to those skilled in the art and is used in the access systems of most ISPs. The equipment 4 to 12 then also includes unique program code to manage and control each session.
- the layer four or higher switch 6 is another exception.
- the switch 6 is normally used by ISPs to balance the traffic handled by the RASs 4.
- An example of a suitable layer four switch is the AceDirector AD3TM produced by Alteon WebSystems Inc.
- the access system differs from that offered by ISPs, as described in the access system specification, in that the layer four switch 6 is used to connect users to the web server system 10 and control access to the Internet 16 for the users 14 on the basis of a limited number of access states encoded in the switch 6.
- unique program code and the equipment 4 to 12 could be substituted, entirely or in part, by unique integrated circuits, such as ASICs, to execute the same functions.
- the system is the same as that described in the access system specification, except that it further includes software components executed by either the database server 8 or the web server 10 to execute the charging method described below.
- the member access record indicates the start of the session and holds a set of locations and initial access times. The differences between the initial access times provide information on the time which a user spends at each location during the session.
- the member access records are retrieved from the database 8 at step 22 and sequentially processed.
- a determination is made at step 24 as to whether the recorded locations of a member or user record correspond to affiliate locations.
- affiliate locations are those locations on the Internet 16 or web server 10 designated by URLs which hold free content of parties affiliated with the provider of the system. If the location is not an affiliate location, then this is reported at step 26 and a charge record compiled for the user based on the user ' s access of the locations in the member access record which are not affiliate locations.
- the charge may be a standard flat rate charge or a time rate charge based on the time of access, or any other charging basis which may be employed by ISPs to charge users.
- a location is an affiliate location
- An affiliate record is generated at step 30 based on the captured data which would include the affiliate locations accessed, the access times, and the period of time for which the locations are accessed, together with identifying details concerning the user accessing the locations.
- the affiliate record is stored on the database 8 and can be accessed as part of a secure web site on the web server 10 for affiliates.
- the data held in the affiliate records can be reported to the affiliates in various formats on the secure web site.
- the affiliates can be charged automatically at step 28 based on time rates for access or other charging schemes based on the user's access of the affiliate locations.
- the charge can also be determined and rendered after subsequent processing of the affiliate record.
- the charges can be passed on to members and affiliates in various ways, such as by invoicing or electronic credit card transactions.
- the above charging method and system is particularly advantageous as it establishes for ISPs an entirely different charging model to that which is presently exploited.
- Content providers i.e. affiliates
- the content providers can be charged as well as users who connect to the Internet. This is also particularly advantageous for users as they are provided with access to content free of charge.
- the content providers are also provided with detailed information by the affiliate record concerning the benefit they are deriving from providing the content. The actual locations accessed and the user details are provided to the content providers.
- As the access system has access profiles attached to each user, these profile details can also be provided to content providers in the affiliate records to provide further information on the users accessing their content.
Abstract
Description
Claims
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
AUPQ080899 | 1999-06-07 | ||
AUPQ0808A AUPQ080899A0 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 1999-06-07 | A charging method and system |
PCT/AU2000/000639 WO2000075818A1 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 2000-06-07 | A charging method and system |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP1224586A1 true EP1224586A1 (en) | 2002-07-24 |
EP1224586A4 EP1224586A4 (en) | 2002-08-21 |
Family
ID=3815005
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP00930884A Withdrawn EP1224586A4 (en) | 1999-06-07 | 2000-06-07 | A charging method and system |
Country Status (11)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP1224586A4 (en) |
JP (1) | JP2003501750A (en) |
KR (1) | KR20020003860A (en) |
CN (1) | CN1338082A (en) |
AU (1) | AUPQ080899A0 (en) |
BR (1) | BR0011001A (en) |
CA (1) | CA2360926A1 (en) |
CO (1) | CO5300502A1 (en) |
IL (1) | IL143737A0 (en) |
NO (1) | NO20012928L (en) |
WO (1) | WO2000075818A1 (en) |
Families Citing this family (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US9456250B2 (en) * | 2006-12-15 | 2016-09-27 | At&T Intellectual Property I, L.P. | Automatic rating optimization |
Family Cites Families (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US5717923A (en) * | 1994-11-03 | 1998-02-10 | Intel Corporation | Method and apparatus for dynamically customizing electronic information to individual end users |
DE19523489A1 (en) * | 1995-06-28 | 1997-01-02 | Sel Alcatel Ag | Method and circuit arrangement for the synchronization of pulse frames in multicellular telecommunications systems |
US5948061A (en) * | 1996-10-29 | 1999-09-07 | Double Click, Inc. | Method of delivery, targeting, and measuring advertising over networks |
-
1999
- 1999-06-07 AU AUPQ0808A patent/AUPQ080899A0/en not_active Abandoned
-
2000
- 2000-06-07 KR KR1020017009779A patent/KR20020003860A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 2000-06-07 BR BR0011001-9A patent/BR0011001A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 2000-06-07 JP JP2001502021A patent/JP2003501750A/en active Pending
- 2000-06-07 WO PCT/AU2000/000639 patent/WO2000075818A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 2000-06-07 IL IL14373700A patent/IL143737A0/en unknown
- 2000-06-07 CN CN00803199A patent/CN1338082A/en active Pending
- 2000-06-07 CA CA002360926A patent/CA2360926A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2000-06-07 EP EP00930884A patent/EP1224586A4/en not_active Withdrawn
- 2000-06-07 CO CO00042360A patent/CO5300502A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
-
2001
- 2001-06-13 NO NO20012928A patent/NO20012928L/en not_active Application Discontinuation
Non-Patent Citations (2)
Title |
---|
No Search * |
See also references of WO0075818A1 * |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
CA2360926A1 (en) | 2000-12-14 |
BR0011001A (en) | 2002-02-19 |
EP1224586A4 (en) | 2002-08-21 |
KR20020003860A (en) | 2002-01-15 |
IL143737A0 (en) | 2002-04-21 |
AUPQ080899A0 (en) | 1999-06-24 |
CO5300502A1 (en) | 2003-07-31 |
NO20012928L (en) | 2001-09-24 |
NO20012928D0 (en) | 2001-06-13 |
JP2003501750A (en) | 2003-01-14 |
CN1338082A (en) | 2002-02-27 |
WO2000075818A1 (en) | 2000-12-14 |
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Legal Events
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STAA | Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent |
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18W | Application withdrawn |
Withdrawal date: 20020819 |