Method and apparatus for providing physical security for a user account and providing access to the user's environment and preferences

Claim 3

The method of claim 1, further including the steps of: the internet terminal transmitting the ticket with a service request; and the server processing the service request with reference to the information stored within the ticket.

Claim 4

The method of claim 2, wherein the service request is for a list of favorite web sites, wherein the information stored within the ticket includes a customer identifier, the step of processing the service request with reference to the information stored within the ticket further includes the step of retrieving the list of favorite web sites based upon the customer identifier.

Claim 5

The method of claim 2, wherein the service request is for a list of electronic mail, wherein the information stored within the ticket includes an electronic mail identifier, the step of processing the service request with reference to the information stored within the ticket further includes the step of electronic mail based upon the electronic mail identifier.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1, further including the steps of: the server locating configuration information associated with the authorized user of the server based upon the identification information; and the server downloading the configuration information to the internet terminal.

Claim 7

The method of claim 5, wherein the configuration information includes information identifying one or more background music preferences.

Claim 8

The method of claim 5, wherein the configuration information includes information identifying one or more font preferences.

Claim 9

The method of claim 5, wherein the configuration information includes information identifying one or more on-screen keyboard preferences.

Claim 10

The method of claim 5, wherein the configuration information includes information identifying one or more electronic mail preferences.

Claim 11

The method of claim 1, wherein the internet terminal has a current state, and the method further includes the step of the internet terminal performing input processing based upon the current state.

Claim 12

The method of claim 10, wherein the step of performing input processing based upon the current state further includes the step of the internet terminal opening a connection with the server if the current state of the internet terminal is disconnected.

Claim 13

The method of claim 10, wherein the step of performing input processing based upon the current state further includes the step of the internet terminal powering itself up if the current state of the internet terminal is powered down.

Claim 14

The method of claim 10, wherein the step of performing input processing based upon the current state further includes the step of the internet terminal waking up by suspending the screen-saver if the current state of the internet terminal is sleeping.

Claim 15

In a computer network system that includes a plurality of server computer systems logically connected in order to provide access to one or more internet sites, and a plurality of client systems that serve as internet terminals connectable to one or more of the server computer systems, and wherein at least some of the client systems are comprised of a conventional television set and a processor connected to the television set so that internet sites may be viewed using the television set as a computer display monitor in conjunction with the processor, a method of permitting a particular user to log onto the computer network from any of the internet terminals independent of any internet terminal's unique id and independent of any unique user id and passwords associated with any terminal, the method comprising the steps of: maintaining at one or more server computer systems unique id information for a plurality of the internet terminals, as well user id information for the users of each internet terminal, and any user passwords established for the users of each such internet terminal; also maintaining at the one or more server computer systems unique id information for a plurality smart cards, each of which uniquely identifies a user of the computer network; detecting at an internet terminal the presence of a smart card input to the internet terminal by a particular user, and thereafter transmitting to said one or more server computer systems the unique id information from the input smart card that identifies the particular user for that smart card in order to initiate a user session for the particular user; and at the server computer system to which the unique id information from the input smart card was transmitted, thereafter bypassing normal log in procedure which requires using the unique id information of the internet terminal being used by the particular user, and any user id and user passwords otherwise required for log in at that internet terminal and establishing the user session independent of such otherwise normal log in procedure.

Claim 16

In a computer network system that includes a plurality of server computer systems logically connected in order to provide access to one or more internet sites, and a plurality of client systems that serve as internet terminals connectable to one or more of the server computer systems, and wherein at least some of the client systems are comprised of a conventional television set and a processor connected to the television set so that internet sites may be viewed using the television set as a computer display monitor in conjunction with the processor, a method of permitting a particular user to log onto the computer network from any of the internet terminals independent of any internet terminal's unique id and independent of any unique user id and passwords associated with any terminal, the method comprising the steps of: maintaining at one or more server computer systems unique id information for a plurality of the internet terminals, as well user id information for the users of each internet terminal, and any user passwords established for the users of each such internet terminal; also maintaining at the one or more server computer systems unique id information for a plurality smart cards, each of which uniquely identifies a user of the computer network; detecting at an internet terminal the presence of a smart card input to the internet terminal by a particular user, and thereafter transmitting to said one or more server computer systems the unique id information from the input smart card that identifies the particular user for that smart card in order to initiate a user session for the particular user; and at the server computer system to which the unique id information from the input smart card was transmitted, thereafter bypassing normal log in procedure which requires using the unique id information of the internet terminal being used by the particular user, and any user id and user passwords otherwise required for log in at that internet terminal and establishing the user session independent of such otherwise normal log in procedure.

Claim 17

The method of claim 14 further comprising the steps of: at the server computer system to which the unique id information from the input smart card was transmitted, using the unique id information from the input smart card to locate configuration information associated with the particular user of that smart card; and downloading from the server computer system to the internet terminal at which the smart card was input the configuration information for the particular user of the input smart card.

Claim 18

The method of claim 15, wherein prior to the step of a server receiving identification information from an internet terminal the method further including the steps of: the internet terminal reading identification information from a semiconductor memory of the smart card; and the internet terminal transmitting the identification information to the server.

Claim 19

The method of claim 15, wherein the configuration information is for tailoring one or more operations of the internet terminal to the particular user.

Claim 20

The method of claim 15, wherein the configuration information includes information identifying one or more background music preferences.

Claim 21

The method of claim 15, wherein the configuration information includes information identifying one or more font preferences.

Claim 22

The method of claim 15, wherein the configuration information includes information identifying one or more on-screen keyboard preferences.

Claim 23

The method of claim 15, wherein the configuration information includes information identifying one or more electronic mail preferences.

Claim 24

In a computer network system that includes a plurality of server computer systems logically connected in order to provide access to one or more internet sites, and a plurality or client systems that serve as internet terminals connectable to one or more of the server computer systems, and wherein at least some of the client systems are comprised of a conventional television set and a processor connected to the television set so that internet sites may be viewed using the television set as a computer display monitor in conjunction with the processor, a method of permitting a particular user to log onto the computer network from any of the internet terminals independent of any internet terminal's unique id and independent of any unique user id and passwords associated with any terminal, the method comprising the steps of: maintaining at one or more server computer systems unique id information for a plurality of the internet terminals, as well user id information for the users of each internet terminal, and any user passwords established for the users of each such internet terminal; also maintaining at the one or more server computer systems unique id information for a plurality smart cards, each of which uniquely identifies a user of the computer network and account information for the uniquely identified user; detecting at an internet terminal the presence of a smart card input to the internet terminal by a particular user, and thereafter transmitting to said one or more server computer systems the unique id information from the input smart card that identifies the particular user for that smart card in order to initiate a user session for the particular user; at the server computer system to which the unique id information from the input smart card was transmitted, thereafter bypassing normal log in procedure which requires using the unique id information of the internet terminal being used by the particular user, and any user id and user passwords otherwise required for log in at that internet terminal, and establishing the user session independent of such otherwise normal log in procedure; and as part of the user session, locating at the server computer system to which the unique id information from the input smart card was transmitted, the account information for the uniquely identified user, and thereafter responding to subsequent service requests from that internet terminal in a manner determined by an environment associated with the user account.

Claim 25

In a computer network system that includes a plurality of server computer systems logically connected in order to provide access to one or more internet sites, and a plurality or client systems that serve as internet terminals connectable to one or more of the server computer systems, and wherein at least some of the client systems are comprised of a conventional television set and a processor connected to the television set so that internet sites may be viewed using the television set as a computer display monitor in conjunction with the processor, a method of permitting a particular user to log onto the computer network from any of the internet terminals independent of any internet terminal's unique id and independent of any unique user id and passwords associated with any terminal, the method comprising the steps of: maintaining at one or more server computer systems unique id information for a plurality of the internet terminals, as well user id information for the users of each internet terminal, and any user passwords established for the users of each such internet terminal; also maintaining at the one or more server computer systems unique id information for a plurality smart cards, each of which uniquely identifies a user of the computer network and account information for the uniquely identified user; detecting at an internet terminal the presence of a smart card input to the internet terminal by a particular user, and thereafter transmitting to said one or more server computer systems the unique id information from the input smart card that identifies the particular user for that smart card in order to initiate a user session for the particular user; at the server computer system to which the unique id information from the input smart card was transmitted, thereafter bypassing normal log in procedure which requires using the unique id information of the internet terminal being used by the particular user, and any user id and user passwords otherwise required for log in at that internet terminal, and establishing the user session independent of such otherwise normal log in procedure; and as part of the user session, locating at the server computer system to which the unique id information from the input smart card was transmitted, the account information for the uniquely identified user, and thereafter responding to subsequent service requests from that internet terminal in a manner determined by an environment associated with the user account.

Claim 26

The method of claim 22, wherein the environment associated with the user account includes a set of favorite web sites, and the step of responding to subsequent service requests from the internet terminal in a manner determined by an environment associated with the user account further includes the steps of: the internet terminal making a request for favorite web sites; and responsive to the request, the server transmitting a set of favorite web sites associated with the user account.

Claim 27

The method of claim 22, wherein the environment associated with the user account includes a set of electronic mail addresses.

Claim 28

The method of claim 24, the method further including the steps of: the internet terminal making a request to compose an electronic mail message; and responsive to the request, the server transmitting information including the set of electronic mail addresses.

Claim 29

The method of claim 22, wherein the predefined environment associated with the authorized user includes an electronic mail identifier by which electronic mail can be received from the Internet.

Claim 30

The method of claim 26, wherein the predefined environment associated with the authorized user includes a set of electronic mail messages addressed to the electronic mail identifier.