Gateway-Based Content Rating Enforcement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems lack effective methods to manage and restrict user access to digital content based on content ratings, leading to potential exposure of inappropriate material to users, especially on mobile devices.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that utilize content ratings provided by content providers to compare with user-specific rating permissions, preventing access to restricted content by communicating these ratings through a content server and gateway, ensuring that only permissible content is delivered to mobile devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If content ratings are implemented and enforced through gateways, then user protection from inappropriate content is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a gateway as an intermediary component between mobile devices and content servers. The gateway receives content requests, obtains ratings from content servers, compares ratings against stored permission levels, and selectively blocks or permits content delivery. This intermediary structure protects users from inappropriate content while maintaining relatively simple mobile devices and content servers.
2Adaptability or versatility
If content ratings are communicated through content servers, then access control capability is improved, but communication overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a mechanism where content ratings are obtained and cached in advance by the gateway before actual content delivery decisions are made. The gateway stores rating information locally, allowing it to quickly compare incoming content requests against pre-fetched ratings without requiring real-time communication with content servers for each rating check, thus reducing communication overhead.
3Measurement precision
If rating permission data is stored on mobile devices, then access control precision is improved, but device storage requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the rating permission data storage function from mobile devices and relocates it to the gateway. Mobile devices only send simple identification information with their content requests, while the gateway maintains and manages the comprehensive rating permission databases. This extraction reduces storage requirements on mobile devices while maintaining precise access control capabilities at the gateway level.
Data Source
AI summary
A method, system, and computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions for blocking online content based on ratings supplied by the content provider are provided. A content server may communicate a content rating for online content in a response to a request for the online content. The content rating may be communicated as an attribute value within the response header. The content rating may be compared to the rating-permission for the computing device that requested the online content to determine whether the content should be blocked. If the computing device that sent the request is not approved to receive the online content then the online content is blocked.