Interceptor Module for Centralized Policy Enforcement in Monetized Online Content Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
As online research services expand, enforcing policies such as security and billing across multiple servers becomes increasingly complex, and existing Internet architectures can be manipulated to provide free services, necessitating a system for centralized policy enforcement and hiding internal processes from users.
Innovation Solution
A monetized online content system with an interceptor module that receives client requests, authenticates clients, verifies authorization, and transforms responses by removing events like billing information before presentation, thereby centralizing policy enforcement and hiding internal processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If online research services expand to include multiple servers and content providers, then the breadth of information and services provided increases, but the complexity of enforcing policies (security, billing) across each server increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary component (interceptor module) that sits between clients and multiple resource modules/servers. This interceptor centralizes policy enforcement for security, billing, and authentication, eliminating the need to implement policy enforcement in each individual server. The interceptor receives requests, enforces policies centrally, and forwards authenticated/authorized requests to appropriate resource modules, thus resolving the contradiction by maintaining service breadth while reducing policy enforcement complexity.
2Reliability
If existing Internet architectures use HTTP requests, responses, and client-side storage to maintain system state and track client activity, then client activity tracking is enabled, but the system can be manipulated by knowledgeable users to obtain free services
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the authentication and authorization logic from the traditional HTTP architecture and client-side storage mechanisms. Instead of relying on cookies or client-side state that can be manipulated, the system implements server-side authentication through the interceptor module that validates credentials and maintains authentication state centrally. This extraction removes the vulnerability to client-side manipulation while preserving reliable activity tracking.
3Reliability
If authentication and authorization logic is distributed across multiple resource modules, then each module can independently verify clients, but the system becomes more complex and harder to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges authentication and authorization logic into a single centralized interceptor module that handles all authentication verification for multiple resource modules. Instead of each resource module independently implementing authentication, the interceptor consolidates this functionality, making the system easier to maintain while preserving reliable authentication verification. The interceptor acts as a single point of control for security policies.
Data Source
AI summary
One aspect of the invention provides a computer system having processing and memory means operable to provide a monetized online content system. The computer system is coupled to one or more resource modules each having data in the memory means and includes: an interceptor module configured to receive a request from a client for one or more resources available from one or more resource modules, refer the request to one or more of the resource modules configured to fulfill the request, receive one or more responses from one or more of the resource modules, at least one of said one or more responses having one or more events associated therewith, and transform the one or more responses by removing the one or more events associated with the one or more responses prior to presentation of the one or more responses to the client.