Claims
- 1. A method of exercising access control over television programs using a parental control user interface having different functions, said method comprising the steps of:
requiring a password for a master mode to obtain access to all the functions of the parental control user interface; entering a criterion for blocking a television program from being viewed or recorded or overriding a blocked television program; selecting a program for displaying or recording; prompting a user not in the master mode to enter the password if the selected program meets the blocking criterion and does not meet the overriding criterion; and unblocking the selected program that meets the blocking criterion and does not meet the overbidding criterion so it can be viewed if the user enters the password responsive to the prompt.
- 2. An apparatus for parental control of a television receiver, comprising:
a television display; a tuner for receiving a plurality of television programs and passing one of said television programs; a memory for storing a blocking override list comprising information relating to at least one television program, and an enable override list comprising information relating to at least one television program; a microprocessor selectively operable in a blocking mode and an unblocking mode, said microprocessor generating a blocking command in said unblocking mode only when the television program passed by the tuner corresponds to said information relating to one of the television program in said blocking override list, and generating a blocking command in said blocking mode only when the television program passed by the tuner does not correspond to said information relating to any one of the television programs in said enable override list; and a blocking circuit for coupling the television program passed by the tuner to said television display, said blocking circuit having a control input which causes the television program passed by the tuner to be blocked from said television display in response to the blocking command.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the television program passed by the tuner includes rating information, and further comprising a vertical blanking decoder for extracting said rating information from the television program, said microprocessor being selectively operated in one of said blocking mode and unblocking mode based on said extracted rating information.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said memory comprises rating information stored therein, and said microprocessor is selectively operated in one of said blocking mode and unblocking mode based on a comparison between the extracted rating information from the television program and the rating information stored in memory.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the blocking override list information comprises channel, date, time and length for each of its respective television programs, and the enable override list information comprises channel, date, time and length for each of its respective television programs.
- 6. A method for exercising parental control over a television receiver, comprising the steps of:
creating an enable override list comprising information relating to at least one television program to be watched or recorded in a blocking mode; creating a blocking override list comprising information relating to at least one television program to be blocked in an unblocking mode; selecting the blocking mode or the unblocking mode; permitting only television programs relating to said information in the enable override list to be watched or recorded when the blocking mode is selected; and blocking only television programs relating to said information in the blocking override list from being watched or recorded when the unblocking mode is selected.
- 7. The method of claim 6 wherein the selecting step further comprises the steps of programming the television receiver with rating information, extracting rating information broadcast with a television program tuned by the television receiver, comparing the programmed rating information with the broadcast rating information, and selecting the blocking mode or unblocking mode as a function of said comparison.
- 8. The method of claim 6 wherein the step of creating the enable override list comprises entering information relating to channel, date, time and length of the television programs to be watched or recorded in the blocking mode, and the step of creating the blocking override list comprises entering information relating to channel, date, time and length of the television programs to be blocked in the unblocking.
- 9. A method for exercising parental control, comprising the steps of:
receiving a television signal carrying a television program and a rating for the television program; inputting a rating level; extracting the television program rating from the received television signal; comparing the extracted television program rating with the inputted rating level; displaying the television program carried by the received television signal if the extracted television program rating is below the inputted rating level; blocking the television program carried by the received television signal if the extracted television program rating is above the inputted rating level; selecting a specific television program which, when carried by the received television signal, will override the comparing step; and displaying the specific television program, when carried by the received television signal, if its rating is above the inputted rating level, or blocking the specific television program, when carried by the received television signal, if its rating is below the inputted rating level.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of patent application Ser. No. 09/221,615, filed Dec. 28, 1998 which is a continuation-in-part of patent application Ser. No. 08/831,531, filed Apr. 1, 1997, which itself claims priority to the following applications: provisional Application No. 60/014,512, filed Apr. 1, 1996, entitled “User Programmable V-Chip System”; Provisional Application No. 60/022,210, filed Jul. 18, 1996, entitled “Parental Control Method and Apparatus”; and provisional Application No. 60/023,724, filed Aug. 8, 1996, entitled “Parental Control for Cable Input.” The present application also claims priority to the following applications: provisional co-pending Application No. 60/111,342 filed Dec. 7, 1998, entitled “Guide Oriented Parental Control Apparatus and Method”; provisional co-pending Application No. 60/100,575, filed Sep. 16, 1998, entitled “V-CHIP PLUS+: IN-GUIDE USER INTERFACE APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR PROGRAMMABLE BLOCKING OF TELEVISION AND OTHER VIEWABLE PROGRAMMING, SUCH AS FOR PARENTAL CONTROL OF A TELEVISION RECEIVER”; and pending patent Application No. 09/190,031 filed Nov. 11, 1998. The above-identified applications being incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
Provisional Applications (5)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60014512 |
Apr 1996 |
US |
|
60022210 |
Jul 1996 |
US |
|
60023724 |
Aug 1996 |
US |
|
60100575 |
Sep 1998 |
US |
|
60111342 |
Dec 1998 |
US |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09221615 |
Dec 1998 |
US |
Child |
10033532 |
Oct 2001 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08831531 |
Apr 1997 |
US |
Child |
09221615 |
Dec 1998 |
US |