US6256739B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and apparatus to determine user identity and limit access to a communications network
Assignee: Juno Online Services Inc
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Filing: 1997-11-26
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Granted: 2001-07-03
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Expires: 2017-11-26
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus to determine user identity and limit access to a communications network. A first message containing user identity information is received from a client computer in accordance with a first protocol. A first network address is determined from the first message. A second message containing an information request is also received from the client in accordance with a second protocol, and a second network address is determined from the second message. The requesting user identity is then determined based on the first network address, the user identity information and the second network address. Based on the requesting user identity, it can be decided whether to grant the information request. If access is granted, the requested information is retrieved using the communications network.
Inventors
- 👤 Peter Skopp
- 👤 Benjamin F. Vitale
- 👤 Vinod R. Marur
- 👤 Clifford S.C. Tse
- 👤 Dharmender S. Dulai
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 15:56
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L41/00; H04L41/28; G; G06; G06F; G06F21/00; G06F21/30; G06F21/31; H04L63/00; H04L63/10; H04L63/101
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 36
Claim 1
Independent Claim
169 words
A method of operating an access control system for information retrievable using a communications network, comprising the steps of: receiving at the access control system from a client a first message containing user identity information in accordance with a first protocol, wherein a first network address can be determined from the first message; receiving at the access control system from the client a second message containing an information request in accordance with a second protocol, wherein a second network address can be determined from the second message; determining at the access control system a requesting user identity based on the first network address, the user identity information and the second network address; deciding at the access control system whether to grant the information request based on the requesting user identity; and if the information request was granted, then: retrieving by the access control system the requested information using one of: the communications network; and a cache; and sending by the access control system the retrieved information to the client.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
169 words
A method of operating an access control system for information retrievable using a communications network, comprising the steps of: receiving at the access control system from a client a first message containing user identity information in accordance with a first protocol, wherein a first network address can be determined from the first message; receiving at the access control system from the client a second message containing an information request in accordance with a second protocol, wherein a second network address can be determined from the second message; determining at the access control system a requesting user identity based on the first network address, the user identity information and the second network address; deciding at the access control system whether to grant the information request based on the requesting user identity; and if the information request was granted, then: retrieving by the access control system the requested information using one of: the communications network; and a cache; and sending by the access control system the retrieved information to the client.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the communications network is a packet network.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
19 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the client is a computer located remote from the access control system.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of deciding is also based on information stored in a user database.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the information request is a request to retrieve an information page.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
33 words
The method of claim 5 , wherein the communications network is the Internet, the information page is a World Wide Web page and the first and second network addresses are Internet protocol addresses.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method of claim 5 , further comprising the step of: recording user history data based on the information page requests made by the requesting user identity.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
28 words
The method of claim 7 , further comprising the step of: reporting composite history data based on recorded user history data for a plurality of requesting user identities.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 5 , wherein said step of deciding is also based on an access control list of information pages.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
62 words
The method of claim 9 , wherein said step of deciding is also based on at least one of: the number of requests for the information page that have previously been associated with the requesting user identity; the amount of time the information page has previously been displayed to the requesting user identity; and demographic information associated with the requesting user identity.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
34 words
The method of claim 5 , wherein the second message is received in accordance with hypertext transfer protocol and the first message is received in accordance with a protocol other than hypertext transfer protocol.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of storing the requested information in a cache.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein said steps of receiving a second message and retrieving are performed by a proxy.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein the first message also includes credential information and further comprising the step of deciding whether the client is authorized to use the access control system based on the credential information and a user credential database.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein said step of determining is based on user identity information associated with the first network address when the first network address has been determined to be the same as the second network address.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
200 words
An apparatus for limiting information retrievable using a communications network, comprising: a proxy controller, comprising: a user identity database, a proxy control processor, in communication with a client and said user identity database, configured to receive from the client a first message containing user identity information, wherein a first network address can be determined from the first message; and an access control proxy in communication with said proxy controller, comprising: a communications port capable of receiving information page data using the communications network, and a proxy processor, in communication with the client and said communications port, configured to receive from the client a second maessage containing a request for an information page, wherein a second network address can be determined from the second message and said proxy processor is configured to decide whether to retrieve the associated information page data from said communications port based on the first network address, the user identity information and the second network address and if the information request was granted, then: said proxy processor configured to retrieve the associated information page from one of: said communications port; and a cache; and said proxy processor configured to send the retrieved information page to the client.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
200 words
An apparatus for limiting information retrievable using a communications network, comprising: a proxy controller, comprising: a user identity database, a proxy control processor, in communication with a client and said user identity database, configured to receive from the client a first message containing user identity information, wherein a first network address can be determined from the first message; and an access control proxy in communication with said proxy controller, comprising: a communications port capable of receiving information page data using the communications network, and a proxy processor, in communication with the client and said communications port, configured to receive from the client a second maessage containing a request for an information page, wherein a second network address can be determined from the second message and said proxy processor is configured to decide whether to retrieve the associated information page data from said communications port based on the first network address, the user identity information and the second network address and if the information request was granted, then: said proxy processor configured to retrieve the associated information page from one of: said communications port; and a cache; and said proxy processor configured to send the retrieved information page to the client.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
18 words
The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein said proxy processor is configured to use a Web proxy cache.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
34 words
The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein said proxy processor communicates with the client using a first protocol and said proxy processor communicates with the client using a protocol other than the first protocol.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
14 words
The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the communications network is a packet network.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
33 words
The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the communications network is the Internet, the information page is a World Wide Web page and the first and second network addresses are Internet protocol addresses.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
40 words
The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the access control proxy further comprises: a request history storage unit in communication with the proxy processor, said proxy processor storing information related to information page requests in said request history storage unit.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
28 words
The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein said proxy processor is also configured to decide whether to grant access based on an access control list of information pages.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
98 words
The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein said proxy processor is also configured to determine a requesting user identity based on the first network address, the user identity information and the second network address, and said proxy controller is further configured to decide whether to grant access based on at least one of the following: the number of requests for the information page that have previously been associated with the requesting user identity; the amount of time the information page has previously been displayed to the requesting user identity; and demographic information associated with the requesting user identity.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
186 words
A computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform steps for operating an access control system for information retrievable using a communications network, said steps comprising: receiving at the access control system from a client a first message containing user identity information in accordance with a first protocol, wherein a first network address can be determined from the first message; receiving at the access control system from the client a second message containing an information request in accordance with a second protocol, wherein a second network address can be determined from the second message; determining at the access control system a requesting user identity based on the first network address, the user identity information and the second network address; deciding at the access control system whether to grant the information request based on the requesting user identity; and if the information request was granted, then: retrieving by the access control system the requested information using one of: the communications network; and a cache; and sending by the access control system the retrieved information to the client.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
186 words
A computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform steps for operating an access control system for information retrievable using a communications network, said steps comprising: receiving at the access control system from a client a first message containing user identity information in accordance with a first protocol, wherein a first network address can be determined from the first message; receiving at the access control system from the client a second message containing an information request in accordance with a second protocol, wherein a second network address can be determined from the second message; determining at the access control system a requesting user identity based on the first network address, the user identity information and the second network address; deciding at the access control system whether to grant the information request based on the requesting user identity; and if the information request was granted, then: retrieving by the access control system the requested information using one of: the communications network; and a cache; and sending by the access control system the retrieved information to the client.
Claim 28
Independent Claim
178 words
An apparatus for operating an access control system for information retrievable using a communications network, comprising: means for receiving at the access control system from a client a first message containing user identity information in accordance with a first protocol, wherein a first network address can be determined from the first message; means for receiving at the access control system from the client a second message containing an information request in accordance with a second protocol, wherein a second network address can be determined from the second message; means for determining at the access control system a requesting user identity based on the first network address, the user identity information and the second network address; means for deciding at the access control system whether to grant the information request based on the requesting user identity; and if the information request was granted, then: means for retrieving by the access control system the requested information using one of: the communications network; and a cache; and means for sending by the access control system the retrieved information to the client.
Claim 29
Independent Claim
178 words
An apparatus for operating an access control system for information retrievable using a communications network, comprising: means for receiving at the access control system from a client a first message containing user identity information in accordance with a first protocol, wherein a first network address can be determined from the first message; means for receiving at the access control system from the client a second message containing an information request in accordance with a second protocol, wherein a second network address can be determined from the second message; means for determining at the access control system a requesting user identity based on the first network address, the user identity information and the second network address; means for deciding at the access control system whether to grant the information request based on the requesting user identity; and if the information request was granted, then: means for retrieving by the access control system the requested information using one of: the communications network; and a cache; and means for sending by the access control system the retrieved information to the client.
Claim 30
Independent Claim
273 words
A method of operating an access control system for information retrievable using a communications network, said access control system communicating with a plurality of clients, comprising the steps of: receiving at the access control system from a first client of the plurality of clients a first message containing information identifying a first user in accordance with a first protocol, wherein a first network address can be determined from the first message and wherein the first network address and the information identifying the first user is stored in a database; receiving at the access control system from a second client of the plurality of clients a second message containing information identifying a second user in accordance with a first protocol, wherein a second network address can be determined from the second message and wherein the second network address and the information identifying the second user is stored in the database; receiving at the access control system from one of the first client and the second client a third message containing an information request in accordance with a second protocol, wherein a third network address can be determined from the third message; determining at the access control system a requesting user identity based on the third network address, the stored user identifying information and the stored network addresses; deciding at the access control system whether to grant the information request based on the requesting user identity; and if the information request was granted, then: retrieving by the access control system the requested information using one of: the communications network; and a cache; and sending by the access control system the retrieved information to the client.
Claim 31
Independent Claim
273 words
A method of operating an access control system for information retrievable using a communications network, said access control system communicating with a plurality of clients, comprising the steps of: receiving at the access control system from a first client of the plurality of clients a first message containing information identifying a first user in accordance with a first protocol, wherein a first network address can be determined from the first message and wherein the first network address and the information identifying the first user is stored in a database; receiving at the access control system from a second client of the plurality of clients a second message containing information identifying a second user in accordance with a first protocol, wherein a second network address can be determined from the second message and wherein the second network address and the information identifying the second user is stored in the database; receiving at the access control system from one of the first client and the second client a third message containing an information request in accordance with a second protocol, wherein a third network address can be determined from the third message; determining at the access control system a requesting user identity based on the third network address, the stored user identifying information and the stored network addresses; deciding at the access control system whether to grant the information request based on the requesting user identity; and if the information request was granted, then: retrieving by the access control system the requested information using one of: the communications network; and a cache; and sending by the access control system the retrieved information to the client.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
14 words
The method of claim 26 , wherein the communications network is a packet network.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 26 , wherein the information request is a request to retrieve an information page.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
62 words
The method of claim 28 , wherein said step of deciding is also based on at least one of: the number of requests for the information page that have previously been associated with the requesting user dentity; the amount of time the information page has previously been displayed to the requesting user identity; and demographic information associated with the requesting user identity.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 29 , wherein said steps of receiving the third message and retrieving are performed by a proxy.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 30 , wherein said step of determining is based on user identity information associated with the first network address when the first network address has been determined to be the same as the third network address.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2004-07-02 | 2005-01-01 | 2005-07-03 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2008-07-02 | 2009-01-01 | 2009-07-03 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2012-07-02 | 2013-01-01 | 2013-07-03 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |