Open Market Patents ... abstracts

[Sam Rasins <sa...@dns.omniport.net>]

Folks,

Here are the three recently announced patents:


5708780 Internet server access control and monitoring systems

This invention relates to methods for controlling and monitoring
access to network servers. In particular, the process described
in the invention includes client-server sessions over the Internet
involving hypertext files. In the hypertext environment, a client
views a document transmitted by a content server with a standard
program known as the browser. Each hypertext document or page
contains links to other hypertext pages which the user may select
to traverse. When the user selects a link that is directed to an
access-controlled file, the server subjects the request to a
secondary server which determines whether the client has an
authorization or valid account. Upon such verification, the user
is provided with a session identification which allows the user to
access to the requested file as well as any other files within the
present protection domain.



5,715,314 Network sales system

A network-based sales system includes at least one buyer computer for
operation by a user desiring to buy a product, at least one merchant
computer, and at least one payment computer. The buyer computer, the
merchant computer, and the payment computer are interconnected by a
computer network. The buyer computer is programmed to receive a user
request for purchasing a product, and to cause a payment message to be
sent to the payment computer that comprises a product identifier
identifying the product. The payment computer is programmed to receive
the payment message, to cause an access message to be created that
comprises the product identifier and an access message authenticator
based on a cryptographic key, and to cause the access message to be
sent to the merchant computer. The merchant computer is programmed to
receive the access message, to verify the access message authenticator
to ensure that the access message authenticator was created using the
cryptographic key, and to cause the product to be sent to the user
desiring to buy the product. 



5,724,424 Digital active advertising

A complete system for the purchasing of goods or information over a
computer network is presented. Merchant computers on the network
maintain databases of digital advertisements that are accessed by
buyer computers. In response to user inquiries, buyer computers
retrieve and display digital advertisements from merchant computers.
A digital advertisement can further include a program that is
interpreted by a buyer's computer. The buyer computers include a
means for a user to purchase the product described by a digital
advertisement. If a user has not specified a means of payment at the
time of purchase, it can be requested after a purchase transaction is
initiated. A network payment system performs payment order authorization
in a network with untrusted switching, transmission, and host components.
Payment orders are backed by accounts in an external financial system
network, and the payment system obtains account authorizations from this
external network in real-time.  Payment orders are signed with
authenticators that can be based on any combination of a secret function
of the payment order parameters, a single-use transaction identifier,
or a specified network address.


Later,
Sambo	P-)
<Sa...@Caribe-Enterprises.com>

Is it clean in other dimensions?

{NOTE: The [random] quote above was provided via the 'fortune' program.}