Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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CONTROLLING ACCESS TO CONTENT
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to controlling access to content.
BACKGROUND
The Internet and other computer networks can provide users with a wealth of
information on almost any topic. Some of this information, however, includes
material that
may be offensive and/or unsuitable for children. Organizations such as the
Recreational
Software Advisory Council (RSAC) have proposed rating schemes that provide
users with
information about the nature of content offered by different network sites.
The RSAC rating
scheme defines categories for describing the violence, nudity, sex, and
offensive language
o included in content. Different vendors such as MICROSOFT have integrated the
RSAC
scheme into their software to enable users to control the content displayed.
For example, a
parent may configure a browser to deny access to any content having a RSAC
nudity rating
above "revealing attire." These parental controls enable parents to prevent
their children
from viewing mature subject matter.
~ 5 SUMMARY
In one general aspect, controlling access to requested content includes
accessing information describing requested content, accessing information
describing at least
one regulation that is related to the requested content and to geographical
information, and
determining whether the content information satisfies the regulation(s).
2o Embodiments may include one or more of the following features. For
example, access to the requested content may be denied if the content
information is
determined not to satisfy the applicable regulation(s), and may be permitted
if the content
information is determined to satisfy the applicable regulation(s).
The information describing the content may be content ratings. For example,
25 the content ratings may include data corresponding to one or more of
violence, nudity, sex,
and language. The content ratings may be substantially in accordance with the
Recreational
Software Advisory Council (RSAC) ratings scheme.
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Accessing information describing the content may include accessing a
database that includes information for different content. Accessing
information may also
include accessing content information in a response to the content request.
One or more regulations related to the requested content may be determined.
This may include infernng the citizenship of a user that requested the
content, for example,
by accessing the user's billing address and/or determining an access number
used by the user.
The regulation may be a national regulation, an international regulation,
and/or a local regulation such as a law, an ordinance, a rule, a treaty, a
proclamation, or an
edict. The regulation may be a regulation that applies to citizens within a
jurisdiction, to
citizens outside a jurisdiction, and/or to non-citizens within a jurisdiction.
The content can include text, graphics, animations, sound, video, and
instructions. The content may be, for example, HTML (HyperText Markup
Language)
instructions, XML (Extensible Markup Language) instructions, or MPEG (Moving
Pictures
Experts Group) data.
Determining whether the information describing the requested content
satisfies the regulations) may include determining that the content
information satisfies all of
the regulations.
When a request for the content is received, for example, at a proxy, an
indication that access has been denied may be provided if the content does not
satisfy the
2o applicable regulation(s).
In another general aspect, access to requested content available on the
Internet
is controlled by receiving a request for content, accessing content ratings
describing the
requested content, accessing information describing at least one applicable
regulation that is
related to geographical information concerning the requestor, determining
whether the
content information satisfies the regulation(s), denying access to the
requested content if the
content information is determined not to satisfy the regulation(s), and
permitting access to the
requested content if the content information is determined to satisfy the
regulation(s).
The invention may be implemented as a computer program, disposed on a
computer-readable medium, for controlling access to requested content.
so Advantages may include one or more of the following. By controlling access
to content based on one or more applicable regulations, a system can protect
both an end-user
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and a common carrier from liability for viewing or transmitting prohibited
content. Even in
countries where common carriers are exempted from liability, use of the system
to self
regulate the content offered by the earner can make the carrier more appealing
to
governments, for example, when seeking permission to operate in a
jurisdiction. By using an
established content ratings scheme, the system can be incorporated easily into
software that
already provides parental controls to thereby take advantage of the ratings
already
determined for a large body of content. By centralizing regulation-based
controls in a proxy
or other intermediate agent, the proxy can prevent users from disabling the
controls, further
protecting both the users and the common carrier.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the
description
and drawings, and from the claims.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a screenshot of a list of URLs (Universal Resource Locators)
provided by a search engine.
~5 FIG. 2 is a screenshot of a display indicating that access to requested
content
has been denied based on applicable regulations.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process for controlling access to requested content
based on one or more regulations.
FIG. 4 is a table of categories and category levels for describing content.
2o FIG. 5 is a diagram of data describing content.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process for determining regulations that apply to a
content request.
FIG. 7 is a table of regulations.
FIG. 8 is a diagram of a proxy that processes client requests for content.
25 FIG. 9 is a diagram of a client that denies access to requested content
based on
one or more regulations.
Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like
elements.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Many different countries regulate the content of material that is provided for
viewing or that is transmitted. For example, Japan prohibits transmission of
material that
includes full frontal nudity. Similarly, Germany prohibits its citizens from
accessing material
that includes pro-Nazi sentiments. Saudi Arabia prohibits material including
nudity within
its borders, and also prohibits its citizens from viewing such material when
traveling to other
countries. Regulation of materials is not limited to national jurisdictions.
For example, in
the United States, different county and state representatives have argued for
local regulation
of access to obscene material.
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a system that denies a user access to content that
does
not comply with applicable regulations. Such content can include text,
graphics, animations,
video, sound, and instructions. The content can be embodied in a wide variety
of formats
such as HTML (HyperText Markup Language), XML (Extensible Markup Language), or
MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group).
~5 As shown in FIG. 1, a search engine has produced a list of URLs (Universal
Resource Locators) that include information corresponding to a search engine
query of
"asexual reproduction." URL 100 corresponds to a resource that provides
content related to
nude beaches. As shown, in FIG. 2, when a Saudi Arabian citizen attempts to
retrieve the
nude beach URL 100 content from the network site, the system denies access
based on Saudi
2o Arabian regulations that prohibit Saudi Arabian citizens from viewing
content that includes
nudity. The system provides a display explaining that regulations (e.g., laws,
treaties, rules,
ordinances, proclamations, or edicts) caused the system to deny access.
The system protects from liability both the citizen attempting to access the
content and the carrier transmitting the content. Additionally, even in
countries where
2s carriers do not have a duty to monitor content, the use of the system by a
carrier to self
regulate the content that the carrier provides can increase the carrier's
appeal to a
government, for example, when the carrier seeks permission to provide services
within a
country.
FIG. 3 illustrates a process 102 for controlling access to content based on
3o regulations. Process 102 includes determining the nature (e.g., the degree
of violence or
nudity) of the requested content (step 104), determining regulations (e.g.,
state, county,
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national, or international regulations) that apply to the request (step 106),
comparing the
nature of the requested content with the restrictions imposed by the
applicable regulations
(step 108), providing access to the content if the content meets the
applicable regulations
(step 110), and denying access to the content 112, in whole or in part, if the
content fails to
meet these regulations (step 112). For example, the process 102 may determine
the nature of
the requested content as described with respect to FIGS. 4 and S, may impute
or obtain the
nationality of the requesting user, and may use the nationality to access
encoded
representations of that nation's regulations, as described with respect to
FIGS. 6 and 7.
Specifically, referring to FIG. 4, step 104 may include inferring the nature
of
the requested content from search terms, from metatags associated with search
results, from
lists or services maintained to categorize requests, or otherwise. For
example, the
Recreational Software Advisory Council (RSAC) rating scheme 120 includes
categories 122-
128 (e.g., violence, nudity, sex, and language) and category levels 130-138
(e.g., zero to
four). The scheme can be used to describe content by assigning the content a
level 130-138
~ 5 for each category 122-128. Referring to FIG. 5, a network site and its
ratings are shown at
140. The network site, shown as "www.sex.com", is rated in accordance with the
RSAC
scheme including level data for each RSAC category. The rating shown indicates
that the
network site 142 does not portray any violence 144 (i.e., level "0" 138 of the
violence
category 122), but does include "provocative displays" 146 (i.e., level "4"
130 of the nudity
2o category 124), "explicit sexual acts" 148 (e.g., level "4" 130 of the sex
category 126), and
"vulgar language" 150 (e.g., level "4" 130 of the language category 128). One
or more
additional categories may be available for other forms of rating.
The content need not be described in accordance with the RSAC ratings
scheme or any other existing ratings scheme. The ratings scheme used may
depend on the
25 common carrier's preference. The use of an established scheme, however,
enables the system
to use a large existing body of content ratings. Using the RSAC scheme also
permits easy
modification of software that implements parental controls to also implement
regulation-
based controls. Preferably, software that enables a user to disable parental
controls does not
permit the user to disable regulation-based controls.
3o Content rating can be performed in many different ways. For example, an
organization may have a human operator retrieve information from different
network
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resources and rate the retrieved information. Alternatively, a program may
examine content
and automatically determine ratings based on the inclusion of information
(e.g., words)
associated with different categories. Content ratings can be collected and
stored in databases.
Such databases can be centralized or distributed across different computers.
Alternatively,
content ratings can be stored at network sites providing the rated content.
These sites can
transmit the ratings along with the requested content and let the client or an
intervening agent
process the ratings.
Referring to FIG. 6, determining applicable regulations (step 106) can include
determining the citizenship of a user, for example, by examining a user's
billing address or by
io accessing data such as a user's self reported citizenship (step 114).
Deternlining applicable
regulations 106 can also or alternatively include determining the current
location of a user.
for example, by determining the access number dialed by a user to connect to a
service
provider (step 116). Based on this information, the system can determine the
applicable
regulations) by, for example, consulting a look-up table (step 118).
~5 Referring to FIG. 7, an exemplary look-up table 129 that is used, e.g., in
step
118 of FIG. 6, stores encoded representations of regulations of different
national,
international, and local entities. As shown, the table includes regulations
encoded in
accordance with the RSAC ratings scheme. The table expresses a regulation as
the
maximum level, or threshold, of permissible content in each of the RSAC
categories 160-
20 168. If a content's category rating exceeds a regulation's category
threshold, the content does
not meet the regulation. For example, a regulation specifying that content
having more than
"moderate expletives" (level 2 of the RSAC language category) effectively
prohibits access
to content including "strong language or hate speech" (level 3 of the RSAC
language
category). The regulation would also prohibit access to "crude or vulgar
language" (level 4
25 of the RSAC language category).
The table 129 can include multiple rows for each jurisdiction to encode
different types of regulations (e.g., 170-178). For example, the table 129 can
store
regulations that independently govern citizens requesting content within a
jurisdiction (e.g.,
170) and citizens requesting the content outside the jurisdiction (e.g., 172).
Further, other
3o regulations can independently regulate access by non-citizens requesting
content within the
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jurisdiction (e.g., 174) and non-citizens requesting content outside the
jurisdiction (not
shown).
By comparing the ratings for requested content with one or more applicable
regulations, the system can determine whether to deny or grant access to the
content. For
example, if a U.S. citizen requested content from "www.sex.com" (FIG. 5) from
a computer
in the U.S., the system would deny access because the level of sex in the
requested content
(i.e., level "4" in FIG. 5) exceeds the maximum level of sex 138 (i.e., level
"3" in FIG. 7)
permitted in the United States. In this example, if the U.S. citizen made the
same request
while in another country, the U.S. regulations 146 for citizens abroad would
not result in
denied access because the level of sex permitted in the other country is "4",
the same as the
level of sex in the requested content.
Regulations of more than one jurisdiction or entity may apply to a request for
content. The system can process the different regulations to ensure the
content satisfies all
applicable regulations. For example, two regulations 176, 178 may apply to a
German
~ 5 citizen traveling to Japan. The system ensures that requested content
satisfies both
regulations 176, 178. If the traveler requested the content of FIG. 6, the
system would deny
access either on the basis that such access would violate Japan's regulations
because the
content includes nudity more excessive than "partial nudity" (e.g., level "2"
of the nudity
category 162) or on the basis that such access would violate Germany's
regulations because
2o the content may include hate speech (e.g., content more excessive than
level "2" of the
language category 166).
Refernng to FIG. 8, the techniques described above can be incorporated into a
proxy 184 or other intermediate agent that processes content requests. For
example, the
techniques can be offered by an Internet Service Provider.
25 As shown in FIG. 8, a proxy 184 processes content requests received from a
client 180 via a modem 182 or other communication device by forwarding content
requests
to content sources 186 (e.g., Internet Web-servers) and returning the
responses of the content
source 186. As shown, the different elements can reside in different
jurisdictions 188, 190.
By including regulation instructions 192 in the processing performed by the
proxy 184, the
3o proxy 184 can ensure that information that is returned in response to a
content request
complies with applicable regulations. By centralizing regulation-based
controls in a proxy
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184 or other intermediate agent, the user may be denied the ability to disable
the controls,
further protecting both the user and the common carrier.
As shown, the regulation instructions 192 can access regulation data 194
(e.g.,
the table of FIG. 7), user data such as billing information 196, and content
ratings 198 data or
instructions. The content ratings 198 may include a table that collects
ratings of content
available from different content sources 186, e.g., a table including several
records such as
that shown by FIG. 5.
When the proxy 184 receives a content request or response, the proxy 184 can
determine regulations applicable to the requesting user based, for example, on
the user's
citizenship or access location and the ratings corresponding to the requested
content in the
content ratings data 198. If the content does not comply with applicable
regulations, the
proxy 184 can return information (e.g., HTML instructions and data) indicating
that the
proxy 184 is not transmitting the requested content due to content
regulations.
FIG. 8 is merely illustrative and other embodiments could implement the
~ 5 system differently or could add or omit elements. For example, instead of
storing content
ratings data 198, the proxy 184 could receive content ratings in data supplied
by a content
source 186 responding to a request. Additionally, the system could dynamically
determine
the nature of requested content using software that examines the content.
Further, the system
need not store user data 196, but could instead infer citizenship information
based on the
2o access location of the modem 182 or other communication device used by the
client 180.
Referring to FIG. 9, the techniques described above are not limited to use in
a
proxy or other intermediate agent, but instead could reside in the client 180.
As shown, the
regulation instructions 192 access regulation data 194 and user data 196. The
regulation data
194 may or may not be much more limited in scope or volume than the
comprehensive list of
25 regulations shown in FIG. 7. For example, an American client may only
include regulations
that apply to U.S. citizens. Additionally, user data 196 need not be stored,
but can be
dynamically obtained, for example, by querying an operating system registry.
When the
client 180 receives a response to a content request, the regulation
instructions 192 can
prevent presentation of information that does not comply with applicable
regulations.
3o The methods and techniques described here may be implemented in digital
electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in
combinations of
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them. Apparatus embodying these techniques may include appropriate input and
output
devices, a computer processor, and a computer program product tangibly
embodied in a
machine-readable storage device for execution by a programmable processor. A
process
embodying these techniques may be performed by a programmable processor
executing a
program of instructions to perform desired functions by operating on input
data and
generating appropriate output. The techniques may advantageously be
implemented in one
or more computer programs that are executable on a programmable system
including at least
one programmable processor coupled to receive data and instructions from, and
to transmit
data and instructions to, a data storage system, at least one input device,
and at least one
output device. Each computer program may be implemented in a high-level
procedural or
object-oriented programming language, or in assembly or machine language if
desired; and
in any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language. Suitable
processors
include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors.
Generally, a
processor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory and/or a
random access
~ 5 memory. Storage devices suitable for tangibly embodying computer program
instructions
and data include all forms of non-volatile memory, including by way of example
semiconductor memory devices, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices;
magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-
optical disks; and
CD-ROM disks. Any of the foregoing may be supplemented by, or incorporated in,
2o specially-designed ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits).
A number of embodiments of the present invention have been described.
Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made
without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the
distribution of the
functions and components need not be as shown in the embodiments of FIGS. 8 or
9, but can
25 instead be distributed over any number of computers or networks.
Accordingly, other
embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.
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