US 6,606,664 B2 · Computer architecture for managing courseware in a shared use operating environment

Abstract

Methods, devices, and systems are provided in a multi-level computer architecture which provides improved capabilities for managing courseware and other content in a shared use operating environment such as a computer network. In particular, the invention provides a commercial networked instruction content delivery method and system which does not exclude synchronous sharing but is focused on asynchronous sharing. Security means in the architecture provide content property holders with the ability to know how many minutes of use an individual made of licensed material and with increased certainty that their material cannot be used, copied, or sold in usable form unless and until a user site is connected or reconnected to a minute-by-minute counter which is located off the premises of the user. This security link helps protect software and other works which are being sold or licensed to an individual, organization, or entity, and creates income opportunities for owners of such content.

Claims27

Dependent claims

A multi-level computer architecture for managing content in a shared use operating environment, the architecture including:

a registration server level including at least one registration server, each registration server comprising a remote registration manager and a registration database for new user registration, and each registration server being further characterized in that it is free of content managed by the architecture;
a content server level including at least one content server, each content server linked for network communications with a registration server, each content server containing content managed by the architecture, and each content server being further characterized in that it serves such content only for presentation to registered users, namely, users who have previously been registered with a registration server;
and
a client level including at least one client workstation, each client workstation connectable to a content server by a client-server network communications link, and each client workstation being further characterized in that it presents to at least one registered user content which is served over the client-server network communications link by the content server;
wherein the client-server network communications link permits communication over at least one of:
a local area network, a wide area network, a metropolitan area network, the World Wide Web, a private Internet, a secure Internet, a value-added network, a virtual private network, an intranet.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Computer architecture for managing courseware in a shared use operating environment

Life of this patent

Computer architecture for managing courseware in a shared use operating environment

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims27