System and Method for Managing, Converting and Displaying Consumer-
`Generated Content for Interactive Television Use
`
`Summary Description:
`
`A system and process to allow for the management, conversion, presentation and
`reporting of consumer-generated content such as classified listings and bulletin-board
`announcements for interactive television use on digital cable television systems.
`
`General Characteristics of the system include:
`• Web-based content management system that allows consumers to create and
`manage their interactive television content, as well as pay for the distribution of
`their content within the digital cable television system.
`• An automated screening system that scans consumer-generated content for
`objectionable material and alerts system administration personnel of possible
`objectionable material.
`• An automated feed system that delivers the consumer-generated content into the
`content conversion system.
`• An automated conversion system that converts the consumer-generated content
`into formats compatible with the interactive television system.
`• The interactive television system that delivers the properly formatted consumer-
`generated content to the digital set-top box for display on television.
`• An automated reporting system that collects the viewing data regarding
`consumer-generated content from the interactive television system. The reporting
`data is made available in summary form to the authors of content through the
`web-based content management system.
`
`Description:
`
`The principal object of this invention is to provide a system for allowing persons to create
`and manage content for display on an interactive television system on a digital cable
`television system. A specific object is to allow content authors to create and manage
`their content using a web-based content management system, allowing the process of
`content creation to be performed using Internet browsers operating on personal
`computers instead of proprietary content management systems associated with specific
`interactive television systems.
`
`In accordance with this objective, a system for allowing the web-based creation and
`management of consumer-generated interactive television content comprises: (a) web-
`based content management system for the creation and management of consumer-
`generated content; (b) content screening system for the automatic search for
`objectionable text and images; (c) content feed system for the automatic transfer of
`consumer-generated content from the web-based content management system to the
`content conversion system; (d) content conversion system for the transformation of the
`consumer-generated content into formats compatible with the specific interactive
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`BBiTV EX2067
`DISH v. BBiTV
`IPR2020-01267
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`television system; (e) interactive television system for the transmission of the consumer-
`generated content to the digital set-top boxes using the digital cable television system and
`the display and interaction of this same content on the digital set-top box; and (f) usage
`reporting system for collecting, summarizing and reporting the usage data regarding the
`viewing of consumer-generated content from the interactive television system.
`
`The web-based Content Management system provides the web-based services required
`for the creation and management of consumer-generated content. Significant systems
`within the web-based Content Management system consist of: (a) Account Management
`for the management of user accounts on the web-based content management system; (b)
`Classified Content Management for the creation and management of consumer-generated
`content related to the promotion of goods and services and organized as individual list
`items within categories; (c) Bulletin Board Content Management for the creation and
`management of consumer-generated content related to announcements and other items of
`general interest and organized by groups, organizations or topics; and (d) Transaction
`Processing for the processing of fees for use of the system.
`
`The Account Management system controls the access by persons to the web-based
`Content Management system. The Account Management system identifies persons
`accessing the system for the first time and allows these persons to register and create an
`account by providing an account name, password, credit card information and other
`information required for the payment of fees. The Account Management system controls
`the access by registered users to their accounts and manages the privileges and security
`associated to all accounts. Persons may create accounts for the creation and management
`of Classified Content. Accounts capable of accessing the Bulletin Board Content
`Management system may be assigned by a system administrator in the Account
`Management system. Any account capable of accessing the Bulletin Board Management
`system is able to create and manage bulletin board content for specific, assigned bulletin
`boards.
`
`The Classified Content Management system provides the users of the web-based Content
`Management system with content creation and content management tools for the creation
`and maintenance of consumer-generated content related to the promotion of goods and
`services. Classified content is displayed on the interactive television system as list items
`organized within categories; selection of a list item results in the display of an interactive
`television screen containing or providing access to the descriptive data, text, images,
`video and audio regarding the item. Authors of classified content will pay fees
`determined by the operator of the system for the distribution of the classified content to
`the interactive television system for display on the digital cable television system.
`Significant features of the Classified Content Management system consist of: (a) the
`ability to enter descriptive data and text regarding the item; (b) upload digital images of
`the item to the content management system; (c) upload digital video of the item to the
`content management system; (d) upload digital audio regarding the item to the content
`management system; (e) automated size and resolution processing of digital images
`uploaded to the system; (f) automated digital format conversion of digital video uploaded
`to the system; (g) automated digital format conversion of digital audio uploaded to the
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`system; (h) ability for users to select an interactive television screen design (template)
`from a catalog of available templates; (i) ability to view on a web browser the interactive
`television template containing the consumer-provided content; (j) ability to save
`classified content in persistent memory or storage for subsequent modification; (k) ability
`to mark classified content as completed and ready for submission to the interactive
`television system; (1) ability to specify the date and time when a classified content item is
`to become accessible by users of the interactive television system and the data and time
`when a classified content item is to be removed from display on the interactive television
`system; (m) ability to notify the user through email or other communication system that a
`specific content item is scheduled to be removed from the interactive television system;
`(n) ability to modify and resubmit previously created classified content for display on the
`interactive television system; (o) ability to access viewing data generated by the
`Reporting system regarding access and use of specific consumer-generated content by
`users of the interactive television system; and, (p) ability to calculate fees for classified
`content and submit payment of the fees in conjunction with the Transaction Processing
`system. As noted in (i) above, the Classified Content Management system allows the
`user to view the content they have composed using the templates. The templates are
`designed specifically for use on interactive television systems and the user is able to view
`on the web-interface their content as composed for presentation on television. As noted
`in (j) above, the Classified Content Management system allows the persistent storage of
`classified content; although the user is composing interactive television pages using a
`template system, the content is persistently stored as individual elements to simplify
`changes by the user and to allow the conversion of the content to different formats as
`required by different interactive television systems.
`
`The Bulletin Board Content Management system provides the users of the web-based
`Content Management system with content creation and content management tools for the
`creation and maintenance of consumer-generated content related to announcements and
`other informational items of general interest. Bulletin Board content is displayed on the
`interactive television system as dedicated interactive television screens (bulletin boards),
`where approved groups, organizations or topics are each assigned a bulletin board for the
`display of their information. Bulletin Board content is displayed as list items organized
`within a bulletin board; selection of a list item results in the display of an interactive
`television screen containing or providing access to the descriptive data, text, images,
`video and audio regarding the item. An alternative implementation of a bulletin board
`will display the content as scrolling text, where the user scrolls through the text, or the
`text scrolls automatically. Bulletin Boards accounts will pay fees determined by the
`operator of the system for the distribution of the bulletin board content on the interactive
`television system for display on the digital cable television system. Significant features
`of the Bulletin Board Content Management system consist of: (a) the ability to enter
`descriptive data and text regarding the item; (b) upload digital images to the content
`management; (c) upload digital video to the content management system; (d) upload
`digital audio to the content management system; (e) automated size and resolution
`processing of digital images uploaded to the system; (f) automated digital format
`conversion of digital video uploaded to the system; (g) automated digital format
`conversion of digital audio uploaded to the system; (h) ability for users to select an
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`interactive television screen design (template) from a catalog of available templates; (i)
`ability to view on a web browser the interactive television template containing the
`consumer-provided bulletin board content; (j) ability to save bulletin board content in
`persistent memory or storage for subsequent modification; (k) ability to mark bulletin
`board content as completed and ready for submission to the interactive television system;
`(1) ability to specify the date and time when specific bulletin board content is to become
`accessible by users of the interactive television system and the data and time when
`specific bulletin board content is to be removed from display on the interactive television
`system; (m) ability to notify the user through email or other communication system that
`specific bulletin board content is scheduled to be removed from the interactive television
`system; (n) ability to modify and resubmit previously created bulletin board content for
`display on the interactive television system; (o) ability to access viewing data generated
`by the Reporting system regarding access and use of specific bulletin board content by
`users of the interactive television system; and (p) ability to calculate fees for bulletin
`board content and submit payment of the fees in conjunction with the Transaction
`Processing system.
`
`The Transaction Processing system allows users of the Classified Content Management
`system and Bulletin Board Content Management system to determine and pay for any
`fees resulting from their use of these systems. The Transaction Processing system will
`allow users to pay for fees using credit cards or other supported payment methods.
`Significant features of the Transaction Processing system consist of: (a) ability to
`maintain business rules for use by the Transaction system to determine fees based on user
`type and content type; (b) ability to maintain business rules for one or more payment
`methods for use by the Transaction Processing system in handling the settlement of fees;
`(c) ability to maintain business rules for user account and payment settlement conditions
`such as delinquency and lack-of-credit for use by the Transaction Processing system in
`determining user account privileges and content status; and, (d) ability to process
`payment of fees in real-time for payment methods that support real-time settlement.
`
`The Content Screening system performs automated screening of text, image, video and
`audio content in order to identify objectionable or illegal content. Significant features of
`the Content Screening system consist of: (a) ability to maintain a library of objectionable
`or illegal words and phrases for use in the screening of text; (b) ability to perform
`automated analysis of user content text using the text library as an input and alert system
`administration personnel to the use of objectionable or illegal content and the use of
`unknown and suspect words or phrases; (c) ability to maintain a library of objectionable
`or illegal image elements for use in the screening of images; (d) ability to perform
`automated image recognition analysis against user content images using the library of
`image elements as an input and alert system administration personnel to the use of
`objectionable or illegal content; (e) ability to maintain a library of objectionable or illegal
`image elements for use in the screening of video; (f) ability to perform automated image
`recognition analysis against user content video using the library of image elements as an
`input and alert system administration personnel to the use of objectionable or illegal
`content; (g) ability to maintain a library of objectionable or illegal audio elements for use
`in the screening of audio; (h) ability to perform automated audio analysis against user
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`content audio using the library of audio elements as an input and alert system
`administration personnel to the use of objectionable or illegal content; and (i) ability to
`save screened content in persistent memory or storage for subsequent processing.
`Content Screening may be performed within the Content Management system during the
`user process of submitting and creating consumer-generated content or may be performed
`as a process subsequent to the creation of content by the user.
`
`The Content Feed system provides for the transfer of user content from the Content
`Screening system to the Content Conversion system. Significant features of the Content
`Feed system consist of: (a) ability to select user content for submission to the Content
`Conversion system through the testing of appropriate parameters including the date and
`time information contained in the user content; (b) ability to appropriately package the
`elements of the user content to permit the efficient transfer of these content elements to
`the Content Conversion system through an Application Program Interface or other
`interface; (c) ability to create, maintain and execute a schedule for when the Content Feed
`system will execute on an automatic basis for the automatic transfer of consumer-
`generated content to the Content Conversion system; and, (d) ability to execute the
`functions of the Content Feed system on a manual basis in the presence or absence of a
`schedule. The Content Feed system may be able to package and distribute content to
`single or multiple Content Conversion systems.
`
`The Content Conversion system provides for the conversion of consumer-generated
`content from the content elements managed and stored by the Content Management
`system into formats compatible for distribution and display on the Interactive Television
`system. In particular, the Content Conversion system receives consumer-generated
`content elements that were viewable on a web-based system and converts those elements
`into formats compatible with display on television through an Interactive Television
`system. Significant features of the Content Conversion system consist of: (a) ability to
`receive and disassemble content packages delivered by the Content Feed system through
`an Application Program Interface or other interface; (b) ability to process the elements of
`consumer-generated content into data, text, graphic, video and audio elements that are
`compatible with the Interactive Television system and maintain the content presentation
`created by the user on the web-based Content Management system; (c) ability to save
`reformatted content in persistent memory or storage for subsequent distribution and use
`by the Interactive Television system; and, (d) ability to inform the Interactive Television
`system that consumer-generated content is available for distribution and use by the
`Interactive Television system. The Content Conversion system may be a component
`system of the Interactive Television system or it may be implemented as a wholly
`separate system that connects to the Interactive Television system through an Application
`Program Interface or other interface. When implemented as a system that is separate
`from the Interactive Television system, it is possible to support multiple, different
`Interactive Television systems by either (a) incorporating multiple formatting
`requirements into a single instance of the Content Conversion system or (b) creating
`multiple Content Conversion systems, each supporting the formatting requirements for a
`specific Interactive Television system. Either implementation allows for a single instance
`of consumer-generated content that is created and maintained using the web-based
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`Content Management system to be distributed and displayed on multiple, different
`Interactive Television systems with different formatting requirements.
`
`The Interactive Television system provides for the distribution of properly formatted
`consumer-generated content to user televisions, typically through the use of digital set-
`top boxes connected to a digital cable television system capable of supporting real-time
`two-way data transfer between the set-top box and the Interactive Television system.
`Significant features of the Interactive Television system consist of: (a) ability to receive
`properly formatted content from the Content Conversion system; (b) ability to distribute
`said content over a digital cable television system and display this content on television
`as an interactive television presentation; (c) ability to receive user commands generated
`by an infrared remote control device, keyboard or other device; (d) ability to respond to
`the user commands by displaying appropriate content or executing desired functionality;
`and, (e) ability to generate and collect data regarding the user sessions and the viewing
`data regarding consumer-generated content on the Interactive Television system and
`make this data accessible to the Reporting system.
`
`The Reporting system provides for the collection and consolidation of viewing data
`generated by the Interactive Television system and the generation of reports against this
`viewing data. The Reporting system makes this information available to users of the
`Content Management system as well as administrative personnel performing general
`analysis of the Interactive Television and associated content. Significant features of the
`Reporting system consist of: (a) ability to access and process the data generated by the
`Interactive Television system; (b) ability to form summaries of the viewing data against
`desired parameters; (c) ability to save data, summaries and reports in persistent memory
`or storage for subsequent modification or access; (d) ability to make data, summaries and
`reports accessible by users of the web-based Content Management system, restricting the
`data accessible by any specific user to data regarding the content created by that user
`account on the Content Management system; and, (e) ability to make data, summaries
`and reports accessible by to system administration personnel.
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