Territorial determination of remote computer location in a wide area network for conditional delivery of digitized products
US6151631A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 15, 1998 |
| Grant date | Nov 21, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 15, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L61/5007
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Digital products are delivered to a client computer through a wide area network such as the Internet only upon determination that the client computer is located in a geopolitical territory, such as a country or state, for which delivery of the digital product is authorized. A server computer estimates the geopolitical location of the client computer from the client computer's network address through contact information in a network address allocation database. Alternatively, the server computer estimates the geopolitical location of the client computer from the client computer's custom name, e.g., domain name. The domain name itself can specify a country within which the client computer is located. Such can be conventional or can be parse according to ad hoc patterns developed by large, international organizations identified by a root domain name. In addition, contact information for the domain name can be retrieved and geopolitical territory information parsed from the contact information. A super-classification of the domain name can indicate a geopolitical territory. Records associating geopolitical territories with network address ranges are stored in such a manner that maximiz…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.