Delivery of navigation data for playback of audio and video content

In a server system linked to a consumer system through a communication link, wherein the consumer system includes a processor, a memory, a decoder, and an output device for playing multimedia content, and wherein the server system enables the consumer system to filter multimedia content that is comprised of video content, audio content, or both, a method of assisting the consumer system to automatically identify portions of the multimedia content that are to be filtered and to thereafter automatically filter the identified portions, the method comprising the server system performing the acts of:

• creating an object store that includes a plurality of navigation objects which can be loaded into a memory of the consumer system, each navigation object defining a portion of the multimedia content that is to be filtered by defining a start position, a stop position, and a specific filtering action to be performed on the portion of the multimedia content defined by the start and stop positions for that portion;
• as the consumer system decodes the multimedia content, continuously querying the consumer system for a position code, the position code indicating a position relative to other positions within the multimedia content;
• continuously monitoring the position code and comparing it with each navigation object to determine whether the position corresponding to the position code is within one of the navigation objects;
• determining the position code is within a navigation object;
• sending to the consumer system, the filtering action assigned to the navigation object, whereby the consumer system filters the multimedia content by activating the filtering action, resulting in the exclusion of the portion of the multimedia content defined by the navigation object;
• sending a representation of one or more navigation objects to the consumer system, the representation including a description of the one or more navigation objects;
• receiving a password from the consumer system to authorize disabling at least one of the one or more navigation objects;
• receiving a response to the representation of the one or more navigation objects sent to the consumer system, the response identifying the at least one of the one or more navigation objects to be disabled;
• and
• disabling the at least one of the one or more navigation objects such that the filtering action assigned to the at least one of the one or more navigation objects is ignored.

In a server system linked to a consumer system through a communication link, wherein the consumer system includes a processor, a memory, a decoder, and an output device for playing multimedia content, and wherein the server system enables the consumer system to filter multimedia content that is comprised of video content, audio content, or both, a computer program product for implementing a method of assisting the consumer system to automatically identify portions of the multimedia content that are to be filtered and to thereafter automatically filter the identified portions, comprising:

• a computer readable medium for carrying machine-executable instructions for implementing the method;
• and
• wherein said method is comprised of machine-executable instructions for performing the acts of:
• creating an object store that includes a plurality of navigation objects which can be loaded into a memory of the consumer system, each navigation object defining a portion of the multimedia content that is to be filtered by defining a start position, a stop position, and a specific filtering action to be performed on the portion of the multimedia content defined by the start and stop positions for that portion;
• receiving a request for one or more navigation objects from the consumer system, the request identifying the multimedia content to be played at the consumer system;
• in response to the request, retrieving one or more navigation objects from the object store;
• sending the one or more navigation objects to the consumer system for processing, whereby the consumer system filters the multimedia content by activating the filtering action for each portion of the multimedia content defined by the start and stop positions of each navigation object, thereby excluding each portion of the multimedia content defined by the one or more navigation objects;
• sending a representation of one or more navigation objects to the consumer system, the representation including a description of the one or more navigation objects;
• receiving a password from the consumer system to authorize disabling at least one of the one or more navigation objects;
• receiving a response to the representation of the one or more navigation objects sent to the consumer system, the response identifying the at least one of the one or more navigation objects to be disabled;
• and
• disabling the at least one of the one or more navigation objects such that the filtering action assigned to the at least one of the one or more navigation objects is ignored.

In a server system linked to a consumer system through a communication link, wherein the consumer system includes a processor, a memory, a decoder, and an output device for playing multimedia content, and wherein the server system enables the consumer system to filter multimedia content that is comprised of video content, audio content, or both, a computer program product for implementing a method of assisting the consumer system to automatically identify portions of the multimedia content that are to be filtered and to thereafter automatically filter the identified portions, the method comprising the server system performing the acts of:

• a computer readable medium for carrying machine-executable instructions for implementing the method;
• and
• wherein said method is comprised of machine-executable instructions for performing the acts of:
• creating an object store that includes a plurality of navigation objects which can be loaded into a memory of the consumer system, each navigation object defining a portion of the multimedia content that is to be filtered by defining a start position, a stop position, and a specific filtering action to be performed on the portion of the multimedia content defined by the start and stop positions for that portion;
• as the consumer system decodes the multimedia content, continuously querying the consumer system for a position code, the position code indicating a position relative to other positions within the multimedia content;
• continuously monitoring the position code and comparing it with each navigation object to determine whether the position corresponding to the position code is within one of the navigation objects;
• determining the position code is within a navigation object;
• sending to the consumer system, the filtering action assigned to the navigation object, whereby the consumer system filters the multimedia content by activating the filtering action;
• sending a representation of one or more navigation objects to the consumer system, the representation including a description of the one or more navigation objects;
• receiving a password from the consumer system to authorize disabling at least one of the one or more navigation objects;
• receiving a response to the representation of the one or more navigation objects sent to the consumer system, the response identifying the at least one of the one or more navigation objects to be disabled;
• and
• disabling the at least one of the one or more navigation objects such that the filtering action assigned to the at least one of the one or more navigation objects is ignored.