Prepaid fixed quantity access to web services
OwnerViswanath Vadlamaniinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An account grants a client a prepaid fixed quantity of access to web services. The account value may be debited as the client uses the web services. The client may consume the web services until no quantity of services remains in the account. The account need not be associated with the client and may be used by multiple clients. The web services may be for the Internet, an intranet or an extranet. The account may have an associated account identifier. The account identifier may be listed on a plastic card. The client may use the plastic card as a reference when prompted to enter the account identifier to gain access to the web services.
Claims49
In a computer network, a method comprising:
- providing an account for access to services that are provided by an Internet service provider (ISP), said account having an associated fixed monetary value;
- monitoring a quantity of usage of the account;
- debiting the monetary value of the account based on the quantity of usage of the account.
In a computing environment having a client device for use by a client and a web server for providing web services, a method comprising:
- providing a prepaid amount of web services that are available to that client;
- enabling the client to use the web services;
- and
- debiting the amount of web services available to the client based on how much the client used the web services.
In a computing environment, a method comprising:
- providing a physical object to a user wherein said object includes information regarding a prepaid amount of services provided by an Internet Service Provider (ISP);
- receiving a request from the user to access the services provided by the ISP;
- receiving at least some of the information included on the physical object from the user;
- and
- in response to receiving at least some of the information on the physical object, providing the services to the user until the prepaid amount of services has been consumed by the user.
In a computer network, a computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions for performing a method, comprising:
- providing an account for access to services that are provided by an Internet service provider (ISP), said account having an associated fixed monetary value;
- monitoring a quantity of usage of the account;
- and
- debiting the monetary value of the account based on the quantity of usage of the account.
In a computing environment having a client device for use by a client and a web server for providing web services, a computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising:
- providing a prepaid amount of web services that are available to the client;
- enabling the client to use the web services;
- and
- debiting the amount of web services available to the client based on how much the client used the web services.
In a computing environment, a method, comprising:
- providing an account for access to services that are provided by a service provider, wherein said account has an associated fixed time value and is not associated with a user;
- enabling a requester to access the services via the account;
- and
- debiting the fixed time value by an amount of time that the requester accesses the Internet services via the account.
In a distributed environment having multiple login sites where a user may login, a method comprising:
- providing a web services account for web services, wherein said account is authorized for a fixed amount of web services;
- enabling a user to access the web services via the account from a first of the login sites;
- and
- enabling a user to access the web services via the account from a second of the login sites.
In a computing environment, a computer readable medium holding computer-executable instructions for performing a method, comprising:
- providing an account for access to services that are provided by a service provider, wherein said account has an associated fixed time value and is not associated with a user;
- enabling a requester to access the Internet services via the account;
- and
- debiting the fixed time value by an amount of time that the requester accesses the Internet services via the account.
In a distributed environment having multiple login sites where a user may login, a computer readable medium holding computer-executable instructions for performing a method, comprising:
- providing a web services account for web services, wherein said account is authorized for a fixed amount of web services;
- enabling a user to access the web services via the account from a first of the login sites;
- and
- enabling a user to access the web services via the account from a second of the login sites.
In a computer network, a transmission medium for transmitting instructions for performing a method comprising:
- providing an account for access to Internet services that are provided by an Internet service provider (ISP), said account having an associated fixed monetary value;
- monitoring a quantity of usage of the account;
- and
- debiting the monetary value of the account based on the quantity of usage of the account.
In a computing environment having a client device for use by a client and a web server for providing web services, a transmission medium for transmitting instructions for performing a method comprising:
- providing a prepaid amount of web services that are available to the client;
- enabling the client to use the web services;
- and
- debiting the amount of web services available to the client based on how much the client used the web services.
A computer network, comprising:
- means for providing an account for access to Internet services that are provided by an Internet service provider (ISP), said account having an associated fixed monetary value;
- means for monitoring a quantity of usage of the account;
- and
- means for debiting the monetary value of the account based on the quantity of usage of the account.
A computer system, comprising
- a web service provider for providing web services to clients;
- an account manager for creating accounts for accessing the web services provided by the web service provider, wherein each account is allocated a prepaid fixed amount of the web services;
- and
- a monitor for monitoring usage of the accounts and debiting the accounts based on usage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.