Computer architecture for managing courseware in a shared use operating environment

Abstract

Methods, devices, and systems are provided in a multi-level computer architecture which provides improved capabilities for managing courseware and other content in a shared use operating environment such as a computer network. In particular, the invention provides a commercial networked instruction content delivery method and system which does not exclude synchronous sharing but is focused on asynchronous sharing. Security means in the architecture provide content property holders with the ability to know how many minutes of use an individual made of licensed material and with increased certainty that their material cannot be used, copied, or sold in usable form unless and until a user site is connected or reconnected to a minute-by-minute counter which is located off the premises of the user. This security link helps protect software and other works which are being sold or licensed to an individual, organization, or entity, and creates income opportunities for owners of such content.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 60 / 079,302 filed Mar. 25, 1998 ('302 application).FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to content delivery over a large computer network, and more particularly to a computer network architecture which integrates management components such as a reservation system, a funds flow system, a metering system, and a security system for preventing unauthorized use of courseware and other content.TECHNICAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]More and more paintings, pictures, books, songs, other performances, texts, diagrams, recordings, video clips, and courses utilizing them for instructional purposes and / or entertainment are becoming available in machine readable forms. In particular, many computer-assisted lessons, training materials, and other instructional courses include works which can be protected under intellectual property laws, such as visual works, audio works, ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention provides an improved method and system for managing courseware and other content in a shared use operating environment such as a computer network. The invention focuses on asynchronous sharing and provides additional security, efficiency, and convenience for managing such content. The system monitors the connection between the content server and client and meters use of the content so that the user only pays for actual use. The invention also includes a module that can disable use of critical portions of the content if an expected security handshake is not received. The invention also allows for early downloading, reservation capabilities, and a combination of automatic and local administrator control."

Problems solved by technology

Still other computer-aided sensory experiences are foreseeable but not yet commercially implemented, such as smells that could enhance a fire fighting course or a course on the detection of illegal drugs.

However, the problems and solutions associated with authoring are not necessarily the same as those associated with delivery.

All necessary courseware content is stored on a computer disk, CD-ROM, or other medium which is directly accessible to the computer being used by the student, making it unnecessary to send any content over a network connection.

Email does not fit neatly in either category, because it can be either synchronous or asynchronous in practice.

In locations where intellectual property was not a well-established and respected concept, widespread copying of information and executable code reduced income and profits to producers of computer based information and applications by diverting income and profits to illicit “factories” which reproduced computer disks and CD-ROMs without permission from the rightful owner.

Some “copy-protection” schemes made it difficult to make copies, regardless of the legitimacy (e.g. for unauthorized resale versus for proper backup) of the copies.

A problem with this approach (and with copy-protection schemes) is that once a single purchase has been made of all the information, or access to all the information on the disk or CD-ROM has been obtained once, the information could be reproduced at will.

An unauthorized factory could produce thousands of copies to be resold with no benefit to the rightful owner of the intellectual property.

Similar problems exist with the site license approach to protecting intellectual property.

Unfortunately, some corporations and even some government agencies were staffed, at least in part, by people willing to take home a copy of the software or other licensed work and share it or sell it to an illegal copying factory.

Users go from a POTS (“plain old telephone system”) line, to an ISDN line to a T1 line, with increasing costs at each stage.

However, the cost of computer storage is dropping rapidly.

As most machine readable classes remain less than a gigabyte in size, the cost of forward storing a machine-readable class to the personal computer owner wishing to take the class is dropping rapidly.

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