System and a method for access management and billing
OwnerAmnon Nissiminventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An access management system for managing network access of an end-user to one or more online content sources of a number of content providers. The system comprises a content proxy unit that stores the concealed addresses of the content sources. The content proxy unit is designed to receive a request for accessing one or more content sources from the end-user. The system further comprises an access management unit that stores an access rights record of the end-user. The access management unit is designed to authorize the request according to the access rights record of the end user. If the request is authorized, the content proxy unit facilitates the accessing using the concealed addresses of the requested content sources.
Claims35
An access management system for managing network access of an end-user to at least one of a plurality of online content sources of a plurality of content providers, comprising:
- a content proxy unit configured for storing a concealed address of each said content source, said content proxy unit being configured for receiving a request for an access to at least one of said plurality of content sources from said end-user;
- and
- an access management unit configured for storing an access rights record pertaining to said end-user, said access management unit being configured for authorizing said request according to said access rights record;
- wherein said content proxy unit is configured for facilitating said access using at least one of said concealed addresses of said at least one content source in said request.
An access managing method for managing network access of an end-user to at least one of a plurality of online content sources of a plurality of content providers, said end-user being connected to a computer network, said access managing method comprising:
- a) identifying a concealed address of each one of the plurality of content sources, each said plurality of content sources having a concealed address, each said concealed address being associated with one of said plurality of online content sources;
- b) receiving a request for an access to at least one of the plurality of content sources from the end-user;
- c) verifying if the end-user is authorized to receive said access;
- and
- d) using at least one of said concealed addresses for allowing said access, said used concealed addresses being associated with said requested content sources.
An access management system for allowing a plurality of content providers to jointly restrict access to their content, said content being stored at a respective provider, comprising:
- a common access proxy configured for providing a plurality of content provider accounts, each said content provider account comprising a concealed address and a public address of a content source, said concealed address being an address leading to respective content at said provider, and said public address being published, said common access proxy being configured for receiving from an end-user a request comprising at least one of said public addresses for accessing a corresponding content source;
- and
- a verification unit configured for verifying said end-user in response to said request;
- wherein said common access proxy is configured for facilitating said verified end-user to access said requested content source at said corresponding concealed address without providing said concealed address to said verified end user.
A billing system for allowing a plurality of vendors to bill an end-user for ordering their products, comprising:
- an access management unit configured for storing a user balance pertaining to an end-user and a plurality of vendor accounts, each said vendor account associated with a vendor balance and at least one purchase address associated with a related product and a purchase charge;
- and
- a common access proxy configured for receiving a purchase request comprising a first address of said at least one purchase address from the end-user;
- wherein said access management unit being configured for authorizing said purchase request according to a respective said purchase charge and a respective said user balance, said access management unit being configured for updating said vendor and user balances according to said authorized purchase request.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.