(19) United States
`(12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2002/0169865 A1
`(43) Pub. Date:
`Nov. 14, 2002
`Tarnoff
`
`US 2002O1698.65A1
`
`(54) SYSTEMS FOR ENHANCING
`COMMUNICATION OF CONTENT OVERA
`NETWORK
`(76) Inventor: Harry L. Tarnoff, Sherman Oaks, CA
`(US)
`Correspondence Address:
`KNOBBE MARTENS OLSON & BEAR LLP
`2040 MAIN STREET
`FOURTEENTH FLOOR
`IRVINE, CA 91614 (US)
`Appl. No.:
`10/055,796
`
`(21)
`(22)
`
`(60)
`
`Publication Classification
`
`(51) Int. Cl." ......................... G06F 15/173; G06F 15/16
`(52) U.S. Cl. ............................................ 709/223; 709/219
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`Systems include components added to a node of a commu
`nication network for providing a novel robot called RevBot
`which enables, for example, a website to efficiently update
`information and content at other network nodes Such as
`Search engines. These components are advantageously
`installed on the website's computer platform and detect
`Search engines and other qualifying databases and lists
`located at other nodes. The RevBot can be used to filter,
`block and enhance website content. The RevBot can also be
`used to facilitate E-commerce and data rights management
`(DRM) at the websites.
`
`Filed:
`
`Jan. 22, 2002
`Related U.S. Application Data
`Provisional application No. 60/263,148, filed on Jan.
`22, 2001.
`
`INTERNET,
`NTRANET
`OR NETWORK
`
`f
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`PAFORM
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`FFLE
`
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`RECEWER
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`ty.
`
`MCM Ex. 2004, pg. 1
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Nov. 14, 2002 Sheet 1 of 17
`
`US 2002/01698.65 A1
`
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`
`MCM Ex. 2004, pg. 2
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Nov. 14, 2002. Sheet 2 of 17
`
`US 2002/01698.65 A1
`
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`
`MCM Ex. 2004, pg. 3
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Nov. 14, 2002. Sheet 3 of 17
`
`US 2002/01698.65 A1
`
`INTERNET,
`INTRANET,
`OR NETWORK
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`MCM Ex. 2004, pg. 4
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Nov. 14, 2002. Sheet 4 of 17
`
`US 2002/01698.65 A1
`
`INTERNET,
`INTRANET,
`OR NETWORK
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`NODE
`REGISTRATION
`FILE
`
`MCM Ex. 2004, pg. 5
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication
`
`Nov. 14, 2002. Sheet 5 of 17
`
`US 2002/01698.65 A1
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`MCM Ex. 2004, pg. 6
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`

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`Patent Application Publication Nov. 14, 2002 Sheet 6 of 17
`
`US 2002/01698.65 A1
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`MCM Ex. 2004, pg. 7
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication
`
`Nov. 14, 2002. Sheet 7 of 17
`
`US 2002/01698.65 A1
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`MCM Ex. 2004, pg. 8
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`

`

`Patent Application Publication Nov. 14, 2002 Sheet 8 of 17
`
`US 2002/01698.65 A1
`
`
`
`==
`
`GRADE LEVEL
`
`PARENTAL (SUPERVISORY) SETTINGS:
`
`CONTENT SCORING BY= GRADE LEVEL
`MNIMUM RANGE = 8.0
`MAXIMUM RANGE=9 O
`DIVISIONS= 10
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`AC as
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`MCM Ex. 2004, pg. 9
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Nov. 14, 2002. Sheet 9 of 17
`
`US 2002/01698.65 A1
`
`277
`
`2227
`
`CENT OR S ACENT MAKES
`A REQUEST FOR WEBSITE
`CONTENT
`
`223
`
`CLIENT'S REQUEST TRANSMITTED
`TO WEBSITE ACROSS NETWORK
`
`224
`
`ARE THERE RULEs los SE
`
`THAT DO NOT INVOLVE
`CONTENT 2
`
`YES
`
`225
`
`ACCESS CONTROL & DENY
`LOGC 107 USES RULES
`APPLIER 105 TO DETERMINE
`YPE OF ACCESS
`
`
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`
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`ARE THERE RULES THAT YES
`DO NVOLVE CONTENT 2
`NO
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`WEBSITE ALLOWED TO SEND
`CONTEN BACK TO CLENT
`N OUTCONG RESPONSE 109
`
`NORMA
`ACCESS
`EVENT
`
`WEBSITES RevBot USES PARSER
`102 TO EXAMINE NCOMING REQUEST
`101, DETERMINES WHETHER IT IS FOR
`ACCESSING OR CHANGNG CONTENT
`OR FOR CHANCNC RULES
`
`CONTENT
`CHANGE
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`RULES
`CHANGE
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`2s
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`107 SENDS REQUEST FOR
`CONTENT TO WEBSITE
`
`29
`WEBSITE SENDS CONTENT TO
`CONTENT WALDATOR 108
`AND ITS SCORER 119
`
`CONTENT WALDATOR 108
`EVALUATES CONFEN
`
`-27
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`ACCESS CONTROL & DENY
`LOGIC 107 USES RULES
`APPLIER 105 AND CONTENT
`VALIDATOR 108 TO DETERMINE
`TYPE OF ACCESS
`ACCESS
`DENED
`EVENT
`
`ENHANCED
`ACCESS
`EVENT
`
`FILTERED
`ACCESS
`EVENT
`
`WEBSITE ALOWED TO SEND
`FILTERED CONTENT BACK TO
`CLENT N OUTCONG RESPONSE
`109
`
`NO
`
`
`
`
`
`
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`ACCESS
`DENEO
`EVENT
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`273
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`CONTENT VALIDATOR 108
`SENDS CONTENT BACK TO
`CLENT IN OUTCOING RESPONSE
`109 W H ENHANCEMENTS
`
`RETURN MESSAGE IN OUTGONG
`RESPONSE 109 EXPLANNG REASON
`FOR DENIAL OF ACCESS
`
`274
`
`272
`
`
`
`NOTFCATION AGEN 111 LOGS EVENT PASSED HROUGH
`BY ACCESS CONTROL & DENY LOGC 107 IN HISTORY FILE 110
`AND/OR TRANSMITS AGENT OUTGOING REQUESTS 112 TO NODES
`(e.g. SEARCH ENGINES, DATABASE SITES) REGISTERED IN NODE
`REGISTRATION FLE 115 BASED ON PRESE RULES
`SEE FIGURE 13, AEFERENCE 250
`
`A/C 9
`
`MCM Ex. 2004, pg. 10
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Nov. 14, 2002. Sheet 10 of 17
`
`US 2002/01698.65 A1
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`MCM Ex. 2004, pg. 11
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`

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`Patent Application Publication Nov. 14, 2002. Sheet 11 of 17
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`US 2002/01698.65 A1
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`MCM Ex. 2004, pg. 12
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`

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`Patent Application Publication
`
`Nov. 14, 2002. Sheet 12 of 17
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`US 2002/01698.65 A1
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`

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`Patent Application Publication Nov. 14, 2002. Sheet 13 of 17
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`US 2002/01698.65 A1
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`MCM Ex. 2004, pg. 14
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`

`

`Patent Application Publication Nov. 14, 2002. Sheet 14 of 17
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`US 2002/01698.65 A1
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`MCM Ex. 2004, pg. 15
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`

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`Patent Application Publication Nov. 14, 2002 Sheet 15 0f 17
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`US 2002/0169865 A1
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`MCM Ex. 2004, pg. 16
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`

`

`Patent Application Publication Nov. 14, 2002. Sheet 16 of 17
`
`US 2002/01698.65 A1
`
`3Of
`
`CONSUMER LOCATES ONLINE USNC
`MARKETING MATERIAL SEARCH ENGINE, ETC.
`
`3O2
`
`CONSUMER ATTEMPTS TO ACCESS FEE-BASED
`CONTENT ON PROVIDERS WEBSITE
`
`CONTENT HAS
`BEEN
`PREVIOUSLY
`AUTHORIZED
`
`
`
`CONTENT REQUIRES
`PAYMENT TO ACCESS
`
`
`
`
`
`CONSUMER USES THE INTERNET TO MAKE PAYMENTS AND OBTAN
`AUTHORIZATION, PROCESS IS HANDLED BY Revsot ON NETWORK
`NODE (e.g. PROVIDER WEBSITE)
`
`CONTENT S ACCESSED ONLINE EXAMPLES;
`MUSIC OR MOVE PLAYS
`GAME ACTIVATES
`RESEARCH REPORT S AVAILABLE
`GRAPHCS LBRARY S AVALABLE
`SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS OPERATE
`
`
`
`3O2
`
`
`
`
`
`WHEN CONTENT IS UPDATED, Revsots
`NFORM CONSUMERS AND UPLOAD NEW CONTENTS
`AND ACCESS KEYS ALSO, CONSUMER CONTENT
`ACCESS CAN EXPRE AND BE REVOKED
`
`A7C2 76
`
`MCM Ex. 2004, pg. 17
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Nov. 14, 2002 Sheet 17 of 17
`
`US 2002/01698.65 A1
`
`377
`
`CONSUMER OBTAINS CONTENT DSC N MAL
`OR AT RETAL OUTLET, FREE OR FOR A NOMINAL CHARGE
`
`372
`CONSUMER INSERTS CONTENT DISC IN COMPUTER OR OTHER
`PLAYBACK DEVICE AND ATTEMPTS TO ACCESS CONTENT
`
`CONTENT REQUIRES
`PAYMENT TO ACCESS
`
`373
`
`CONTENT HAS
`BEEN
`PREVIOUSLY
`AUTHORIZED
`
`CONSUMER USES THE INTERNET TO MAKE PAYMENT AND OBTAN
`AUTHORIZATION, PROCESS IS HANDLED BY Revot ON NETWORK
`NODE (e.g. PROVIDER WEBSITE)
`
`
`
`
`
`
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`CONTENT S ACCESSED ON DISC
`EXAMPLES;
`MUSIC OR MOVE PLAYS
`GAME ACTIVATES
`RESEARCH REPORT S AVALABLE
`GRAPHCS LBRARY S AVAILABLE
`
`376
`
`
`
`
`
`WHEN CONTENT IS UPDATED, RevEots
`NFORM CONSUMERS AND UPLOAD NEW CONTENT
`AND/OR ACCESS KEYS ALSO, CONSUMER CONTENT
`ACCESS CAN EXPRE AND BE REVOKED
`
`A72 77
`
`MCM Ex. 2004, pg. 18
`
`

`

`US 2002/0169865 A1
`
`Nov. 14, 2002
`
`SYSTEMS FOR ENHANCING COMMUNICATION
`OF CONTENT OVER A NETWORK
`
`PRIORITY CLAIMS
`0001) This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provi
`sional Application No. 60/263,148 filed Jan. 22, 2001
`entitled “Systems and Methods for Managing and Promot
`ing Network Content”.
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`0002 This invention relates to content management, con
`tent promotion and e-commerce transactions on computer
`networks.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`0003. The Internet is a decentralized public network
`containing different groups of content, each content group
`organized by many different people using different Standards
`and updated with a number of different processes. Clients,
`generally people Sitting at their computerS or with portable
`devices or other type of computing equipment, acceSS infor
`mation on a network through Software applications. They
`attempt to locate information and access content from one or
`more content groups. For example, using their browser Such
`as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Communicator,
`clients go to a Search engine website and enter their Search
`criteria, at which point the Search engine website responds
`with a Search result list of possible content locations, typi
`cally other websites, that are derived from matching entries
`in the Search engine's database. AS another example, clients
`use Personal Data Assistants (PDAs) or cellphones to locate
`and access network information in a wireleSS manner.
`0004.
`Often, a search engine responds to a client's
`request with data from its database that is out of date. When
`the content of a web site is changed, including new content
`being added or old content removed, a Search engine data
`base does not immediately reflect these changes. The result
`is that when a user clicks on the out-of-date web page link
`provided by a Search engine in response to a Search request,
`an error results and the user is unable to access the intended
`content. The timelineSS and quality of people's access to
`Web Sites then is conditional on how fast the Search engine
`companies can keep their databases up-to-date.
`0005 Most, although not all, search engine organizations
`construct computer applications called “Spiders' or "bots,”
`a short form of the term “robots,” that work their way
`through the myriad of websites on the Internet and gather
`content information for their Search engine's databases. A
`Search engine organization specifies their bots operating
`environment and methods of operation including rules to
`include or exclude particular content.
`0006 Inherently, a search engine bot has to traverse
`nearly the entire Internet So as to evaluate as much network
`content as possible. The cycle time of most Search engine
`bots, that is the time between Sampling the same website and
`incorporating any changes into the Search engine's database
`can be significant, as long as Several months. If a particular
`website is down, or offline, when a bot comes around to
`examine it, at the very least it will not have its content
`updated until some future time. Worst case, it could be
`excluded from the Search engine's database entirely. Should
`
`this happen, clients performing Searches using that particular
`search engine would never be informed about the website
`Since it would not appear in the Search engine's database. AS
`more websites come online, the amount of time for a Search
`engine's bot operation to traverse the entire network con
`tinues to increase, requiring additional computing resources,
`with no end to this time-delay problem in Sight.
`0007 Even when a user is able to access a location on a
`website through a link provided by a Search engine, the
`content can Still be out-of-date. For example, if a user
`Searched for a particular product item, he or she could be
`lead to a website that once carried but no longer carries the
`item. This particular out-of-date condition is So prevalent
`that leading Search engine companies Such as Google have
`resorted to installing a huge amount of data Storage to hold
`a copy, buffer or cache of all content qualified for processing
`or Storage by their bots. Clients of these Search engines can
`then bring up the cache guaranteed to contain content
`matching the Search criteria instead of the current up-to-date
`web page which may not. Some Search engines keep a list
`of Specific websites to Scan more frequently Such as news
`reporting agencies So that they can appear to be more
`responsive to newSworthy items.
`0008. Once the content has been gathered by a search
`engine and recorded in its database, it is up to the designers
`of the Search engine to determine the manner in which data
`is returned from the Search engine's database in response to
`any particular user request. Each Search engine company has
`its own algorithms for generating responses, So a user might
`try several different Search engines before being Satisfied
`with the amount and quality of the Search results.
`0009. A vast amount of restricted network content and
`information is not available for Searching by network clients
`on typical Search engines. Some websites restrict the acceSS
`of a portion of their content to registered users and/or to
`users who have made a payment for accessing the content.
`Since Search engine bots are not typically registered users,
`they are unable to gain access to the restricted content of a
`website and, therefore, unable to include that content in their
`Search engines databases. As a result of this limitation,
`clients of Search engine clients are handicapped because
`they are not aware of the existence of content that could be
`useful to them. As a result, a client often has to remain
`ignorant of the existence of the restricted content or be a
`registered user to many additional websites, Some of who
`charge the client a monthly access fee.
`0010 Websites are hosted on a computing platform of
`Some particular typical configuration and utilize a web
`Server application to process requests coming to it over the
`Internet. There are a number of different configurations for
`website hosting including but not limited to using operating
`Systems. Such as Windows NT, Unix, and Linux, and using
`web server Software such as Internet Information Server
`from Microsoft and Apache from the Apache Software
`Foundation. One computer can be used to host a website or
`a computer can host Several websites especially if the
`websites are Small and the computing resources can be
`shared. For particularly complex websites, multiple com
`puters may be required. The term “computing platform' is
`used to Signify that one or more computers might be required
`to Support a particular website.
`0011. An unsecured web server will respond to Internet
`requests in a rote fashion, providing content on demand
`
`MCM Ex. 2004, pg. 19
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`without any significant amount of consideration as to who is
`making the request. A Secured Web Server is more discern
`ing. It would employ at least one type of user authentication,
`Such as a user ID and acceSS password or public key
`encryption Such as VeriSign's GoSecure! product. Today,
`network applications can avail themselves of an advanced
`public key infrastructure, commonly referred to as PKI, to
`ensure private and hacker-proof electronic transactions and
`communications acroSS the network, particularly for e-com
`merce activities and Digital Rights Management (DRM).
`Secured Web Servers are often used when a user is placing
`an order, making a purchase or providing personal or Sen
`Sitive information.
`0012. Additional software can be added to a web server
`to enhance its capabilities, either for the web site adminis
`trator or for the Internet users who may visit the web sites
`located on the Web Server. For example, a Software program
`can be installed to monitor the amount of available disk
`space of a web server. Should the amount of available disk
`Space drop below a certain preset threshold, the Web Server's
`administrator can be alerted through a paging System.
`0013 Filtering and blocking software applications allows
`parents, educators and other interested parties Such as librar
`ies to limit the type of materials viewed by children and
`teenagers on a network, particularly Sexually explicit and
`hate related material. Network content filtering and blocking
`Software exists in a number of different forms, mostly by a
`Software application installed on the client Side of the
`network. One method of blocking is to utilize a list of known
`websites from which to block content. A method for filtering
`is to allow content to be received from the website by the
`client's computer where the filtering Software analyses and
`makes a determination. Not only is having the unnecessary
`content transmitted over the network a waste of resources,
`but also these methods for filtering and blocking content
`have been deemed by various studies to be only partially
`effective.
`0.014) Access by people at large to personal computers
`and the Internet has changed the methods by which digital
`media content Such as news reports, articles, books, music
`and films are produced, distributed and then used by the
`consumer. Accessing content online and downloading
`Secured files has gained acceptance among many people
`primarily because of convenience; it provides ways to
`immediately acceSS content, replacing more-involved physi
`cal trips to Stores and an otherwise higher reliance on
`physical media Such as Compact Discs, or CDS, and Digital
`Versatile/Video Disc, or DVDs. However, in spite of tre
`mendous awareneSS in media marketplaces, digital media
`content has yet to become a Staple for most consumers
`because what is available for sale on the Internet is limited.
`0.015
`Content creators, owners, publishers and others
`involved in the creation, Support and delivery are concerned
`about protecting their copyrighted works from illegal use.
`Since digital content available for sale on the Internet is still
`an emerging concept, content owners are exploring new
`ways to enable different business models. With the success
`of these new models, it is likely that we will see more
`premium content become available on the Internet.
`0016. An example of a web site limiting its content are,
`e-commerce Sites that purvey pure content Such as online
`magazines, or e-zines as they are Sometimes called. Typi
`
`cally their sites Sell costly periodic Subscriptions which limit
`their consumer base Since, in many cases, consumers view
`Subscriptions as unappealing as they would much prefer to
`only pay for accessing certain packets of content. These
`Sites valuable content is hidden from Search engines, and is
`available only to subscribers. Since a site has most of its
`content hidden, the site itself may be difficult for consumers
`to discover, further reducing the effective customer base.
`Although Some Sites offer limited and Scaled-down acceSS
`for reduced fees for the consumers who do visit, it would be
`better if there were a way to offer Subsets of the valuable
`content in a manner more consistent with traditional brick
`and mortar Stores Such as newSStands and bookStores.
`0017 For providers of high quality digital content to offer
`their copyrighted works for Sale, Secure e-commerce trans
`actions are needed that protect this content from illegal use.
`One critical component of a State-of-the-art e-commerce
`System is digital rights management, or DRM, a combina
`tion of technologies used by content providers to automati
`cally protect their copyrighted material. DRM promises to
`deliver digital content to consumers while protecting the
`rights of the content's creators, promoters, and distributors.
`Often, DRM is envisioned as a system that encrypts digital
`content, limiting access to only those people who have
`legitimately acquired authorization to access and read, listen
`to or watch the content. So far, limitations in traditional
`Software and hardware have made it difficult for content
`providers to find a fast, reliable, long-term, and hacker-proof
`methods.
`
`Definition of Terms
`0018. The Internet is referred to within this document by
`way of example as the most widely known network and one
`of the most complex networks in existence. Although the
`preferred embodiment of this invention is particularly well
`Suited for the huge global computer network known as the
`Internet, this invention provides Significant features and
`advantages for content providing computer networks. Thus,
`as used herein, the term “network” refers to any distributed
`computer network whether it be a local area network, or
`LAN, a wide area network, or WAN, an Intranet or the
`Internet, also known as the global computer network.
`0019. The terms “content” and “information” are used.
`Although content is clearly a form of information as used
`herein, the term “content” refers to data already accessible
`in one form or another on the network. AS used herein, the
`term “information” is not intended to be limited in any way
`and to include, for example, any data that is derived from
`content, for example, a Synopsis of content Such as what
`might be provided by a Search engine or the results of a
`computing algorithm Such as the Scoring of content for a
`particular purpose like content filtering.
`0020. Also, the terms “e-commerce' and “Digital Rights
`Management,” or “DRM,” are used. As used herein, the term
`“e-commerce' refers to the conduction of commerce over a
`network. The parties involved in the commerce can be any
`combination of people and non-human agents, and the
`eXchange can involve network content, physical assets, or
`other goods and services. Although DRM is clearly a form
`of e-commerce, the term “DRM' refers to an e-commerce
`eXchange that involves one or more Secured transmissions in
`an effort to protect one or more digital rights including
`
`MCM Ex. 2004, pg. 20
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`copyright, trade Secret and other intellectual property rights.
`The terms “e-commerce' and “DRM' are not intended to be
`limited in any way, are interchangeable, and include, for
`example, any direct or indirect purchase and Sales transac
`tions of text, graphics, music, movies, and combinations
`thereof.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`0021. The preferred embodiment of the present invention
`is a high performance, distributed content management
`System having a plurality of advantages over the conven
`tional method or organizing a network's content. Specifi
`cally, with the global computer network, or Internet, the
`management System adds components to the network
`enabling enhanced bi-directional website communications.
`This new ability allows, for example, a website to automati
`cally and immediately notify other Sites, databases and
`clients about changes to its content. This particular feature
`has a number of advantages. Instead of waiting for Search
`engine bots to come around and gather information and
`whose cycles can be as long as Several months, website
`updates can be reflected in Search engine databases in a
`relatively short timeframe, typically only a few minutes or
`Seconds. The update rate now being much faster ensures a
`more up-to-date result when a Search engine user performs
`a Search, and it eliminates the Strong need to hold vast
`amounts of buffered or cached copies of network content.
`The owners and administrators of a particular website
`advantageously have their content and recent content
`changes reflected accurately by Search engine computing
`platforms, the value to them being, depending of the type of
`website, faster and potentially higher visibility on the net
`work and/or faster and potentially higher revenue.
`0022. Another feature of the present invention is that
`website administrators have an opportunity to specify more
`categorically how they would like the website's content
`represented in the various Search engine databases. Instead
`of letting a Search engine organization make the determina
`tions, the creators and managers of a particular website can
`have a Say in how their website contents are labeled,
`organized and represented by external databases.
`0023. In the preferred embodiment of the present inven
`tion, various kinds of events and errors can be detected,
`logged and reported to website administrators. Because of
`the local proximity of the present invention to the website's
`application Software, this method of detection and reporting
`has a higher degree of reliability. Also, because of the
`method of operation described below, the present invention
`has a high immunity to modification by hackers.
`0024. One of the novel components of the preferred
`embodiment of the present invention is called a “RevBot,”
`a new network technology that mimics the behavior of a
`network data collection robot, but actually operates in
`reverse, from the point of view of a website. Besides other
`capabilities that are described below, a Rev Bot allows a
`website to efficiently update the information and content at
`other network nodes that pertain to the website, particularly
`Search engine databases.
`0.025 By working in a manner reverse to that of a search
`engine bot, a RevBot is installed on a website's computing
`platform and detects Search engines and other qualifying
`databases and lists located remotely on the network. When
`
`it locates one of these nodes, it transmits or Schedules the
`transmission of data relating to the website, Such as a
`Synopsis of the recently changed content, to the other node's
`computing platform. The RevBot can keep a list of these
`qualified nodes and their operating parameters as a reference
`for future updates. In this manner of operation, with the aid
`of RevBots, Search engine updates can be sped up signifi
`cantly.
`0026 If a node flagged to be updated is offline or is
`detected to be compromised in Some way based on a set of
`programmable rules, the RevBot will perform error recovery
`that includes executing a combination of transmission retries
`and notifications to other nodes about the changed Status of
`the update node. When the update node comes online or
`should the update node come online within a period of time,
`the RevBot transaction can then take place. Otherwise, the
`update node is ignored, recorded, or reported depending on
`the rules. The rules are either fully automatic or involve a
`perSon in the process. Updates can be free or fee-based from
`either the updator or updatee direction. Also, if notifications
`are Sent to other nodes that are themselves offline or com
`promised, the error recovery can ripple through levels of
`notification. If this happens, RevBots have a overall error
`recovery for entering a monitoring mode, periodically test
`ing the network, then restart the communication processes
`once the network Seems to be more responsive.
`0027 RevBots are installed on other network nodes
`besides those hosting websites. Here are Some examples.
`When installed on computing platforms of the network
`backbone, RevBots advantageously reduce network com
`munication bottlenecks, identify and report problem Situa
`tions and help to thwart hackers. When installed on a
`company's hub, router, gateway or proxy Server, a RevBot
`advantageously performs filtering, Secure e-mailing and
`other tasks for many or all of the company's WorkStations.
`0028. Another component of the preferred embodiment
`of the present invention is called a “RevEot Receiver,” an
`application designed to receive and efficiently process
`RevBot requests Such as those meant to notify a Search
`engine about content changes. A RevBot Receiver is iden
`tified with one or more specific Search engine computing
`platforms and can be conveniently located on one of those
`computing platforms. The RevBot Receiver is not necessary
`for the present invention to operate, although it does offer
`Several advantages. Programmed to handle communications
`with RevBots, a RevBot Receiver improves performance by
`acting as a catalyst for updating the Search engine database.
`The Search engine's computing platform can trust its RevBot
`Receiver to update its database automatically without requir
`ing human intervention. Because good quality Security pro
`tocols can be built into the RevBot to RevBot Receiver
`communications, there is no Strong need to verify or validate
`the information. Also, the RevBot Receiver acknowledges
`the RevBot's communication so that the RevBot does not
`have need to retransmit its change notification again or to
`check up on whether the update took effect within the Search
`engine's database, although having the RevBot do So will
`provide a good double check. With this feature, a RevEot
`Receiver efficiently takes over some of the functions and
`obligations of one or more Rev Bots.
`0029 With Rev Bots, the update to a search engine can be
`made in only a matter of Seconds instead of taking many
`
`MCM Ex. 2004, pg. 21
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`weekS. Depending on the workload and backlog of a par
`ticular Search engine, the update time should typically be
`reduced from Several minutes or a few hours. AS an example,
`if the website-to-Search-engine update takes only 15 minutes
`instead of 6 weeks as it was recently measured, the improve
`ment in getting up-to-date content and information to clients
`is over 2.4 million percent, or 24,192 times faster.
`0030 The preferred embodiment of the present invention
`includes having RevBots provide notifications when small
`incremental changes occur on the websites with which they
`are associated. Without a RevBot, if any change is made to
`a particular website, often the entire website will need to be
`resubmitted to search engines for update. With RevEots,
`Search engines can be efficiently notified about changes as
`Small as a single web page, a single page element (e.g. text,
`a graphic, MPEG video, and MP3 audio), or a single website
`database element.
`0031. The scheduling of and the methods used in the
`update, the retry methods in cases of non-acknowledge
`ments to the update requests along with other RevBot
`characteristics can be chosen to match the website to the
`different types of Search engines and databases WebSite
`characteristics can affect RevBot characteristics Such as the
`website's size, the type of web server, and whether the
`website is Secure or unsecured. Website considerations can
`affect Rev Botcharacteristics such as other software that may
`be installed, whether its content is Static, dynamic or a
`combination, and whether the website is topologically
`located behind a firewall or proxy Server. Certain parameters