Router-Mediated Location Verification for Geoblocking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems face challenges in determining the geographical location of a user accurately, especially when privacy products like VPNs and relay servers obfuscate IP addresses, making it difficult for authorization systems to enforce geographical restrictions on content delivery.
Innovation Solution
An authorization system determines the user's location by sending a random secret code to the user's router, which broadcasts it, and if the user device receives and returns the code, it confirms the user's presence at the premises, allowing access to geographically restricted content or services.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If IP address matching is used to determine user location, then location verification is simple and direct, but privacy products like VPNs and relay servers can obfuscate the IP address, making location verification fail
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a router as an intermediary device that receives the random code from the authorization system and broadcasts it to user devices. The router acts as a mediator between the authorization system and the user device, enabling location verification without directly examining the obfuscated IP address. This resolves the contradiction by using the router's broadcasting capability to confirm presence without requiring complex IP analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The authorization system performs preliminary action by sending a random code to the router before the user device needs to access content. The router then broadcasts this code in advance, allowing the user device to prove its location by returning the code. This preliminary code distribution enables subsequent accurate location verification without requiring complex real-time analysis of obfuscated IP addresses.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If VPNs and relay servers are used to protect user privacy, then user location privacy is improved, but the ability to enforce geographical restrictions on content delivery deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The router serves as an intermediary that enables the authorization system to verify user presence without accessing the obfuscated IP address. By having the router broadcast a random code and the user device return it, the system can confirm geographical presence while respecting the privacy protection provided by VPNs and relay servers. This resolves the contradiction by decoupling location verification from IP address examination.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from the user device by having it return the random code received from the router. This feedback mechanism confirms the user device's presence at the premises without requiring the authorization system to examine the obfuscated IP address, thus maintaining both privacy protection and geographical restriction enforcement reliability.
3Device complexity
If the authorization system uses the obfuscated network address from the request, then the system is simpler to implement, but it cannot accurately determine the user's actual location
Solution Approach 1:
The authorization system performs preliminary action by sending a random code to the router before needing to verify the user's location. This code is then broadcast to user devices, which return it to prove their presence. This preliminary code distribution enables accurate location determination without requiring the system to analyze obfuscated IP addresses, thus maintaining implementation simplicity while improving measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The router acts as an intermediary that simplifies the authorization system's task by handling the code broadcasting function. Instead of directly analyzing obfuscated IP addresses, the authorization system simply sends the random code to the router, which then broadcasts it. This intermediary approach maintains system simplicity while enabling accurate location verification through the code return mechanism.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods are disclosed for an authorization system to determine whether a user is in-home, for example, to facilitate providing services or content based on location of the requesting user.