Claims
- 1. A method for playing a video program for a user that has an associated commercial that can be avoided to some extent if the user is authorized, the method comprising steps of:
receiving the video program; providing the video program for display with a video screen; detecting an attempt by the user to avoid normal playback; determining a playback point in the video program for the associated commercial; correlating the attempt to the playback point in the video program for the associated commercial; determining if the user is authorized to avoid normal playback of the associated commercial; and thwarting the attempt of the user if the user is not authorized to avoid normal playback of the associated commercial.
- 2. The method for playing the video program for the user that has the associated commercial that can be avoided to some extent if the user is authorized as recited in claim 1, further comprising a step of receiving control information for the associated commercial, wherein the control information indicates placement of the associated commercial in the video program.
- 3. The method for playing the video program for the user that has the associated commercial that can be avoided to some extent if the user is authorized as recited in claim 2, wherein the control information at least partially is encrypted.
- 4. The method for playing the video program for the user that has the associated commercial that can be avoided to some extent if the user is authorized as recited in claim 1, wherein the receiving and providing steps are at least partially coincident.
- 5. The method for playing the video program for the user that has the associated commercial that can be avoided to some extent if the user is authorized as recited in claim 1, further comprising a step of auditing interaction of the user with the associated commercial.
- 6. The method for playing the video program for the user that has the associated commercial that can be avoided to some extent if the user is authorized as recited in claim 5, further comprising a step of reporting the interaction away from a user location.
- 7. The method for playing the video program for the user that has the associated commercial that can be avoided to some extent if the user is authorized as recited in claim 1, wherein the thwarting step comprises a step of curtailing advertisement chosen from a group consisting of:
removal of all advertising, removal of certain classes of advertising, removal of ads for certain products, removal of superimposed commercials, removal of interlineated commercials during the video program, removal of commercials during temporal manipulation, removal of commercials at a beginning of the video program, removal of commercials at an end of the video program, removal of cross-promotion menus, allowing skipping of a single commercial, allowing skipping of a whole commercial break, allowing some or all temporal manipulation commands during a commercial, allowing or preventing targeted advertising customized for the user, allowing the opening or closing credits of a video program to be skipped or temporally manipulated, and allowing removal of some or all windowed commercials.
- 8. The method for playing the video program for the user that has the associated commercial that can be avoided to some extent if the user is authorized as recited in claim 1, wherein the attempt is a skip or a fast-forward function.
- 9. The method for playing the video program for the user that has the associated commercial that can be avoided to some extent if the user is authorized as recited in claim 1, further comprising a step of removing a plurality of commercials from the normal playback.
- 10. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing the computer-implementable method for playing the video program for the user that has the associated commercial that can be avoided to some extent if the user is authorized of claim 1.
- 11. A computer system adapted to perform the computer-implementable method for playing the video program for the user that has the associated commercial that can be avoided to some extent if the user is authorized of claim 1.
- 12. A method for providing a video program to a user for playback with a content delivery system having multiple video programming channels available simultaneously, the method comprising steps of:
receiving a video program electronically from a point remote to where playback is performed; storing the video program in a compressed digital format; identifying a plurality of portions of the video program; determining advertising options applicable to the video program; playing the video program with the advertising options applied; and modifying how a temporal manipulation of playback is acted upon during playback of the plurality of portions.
- 13. The method for providing the video program to the user for playback as recited in claim 12, further comprising steps of:
determining audit information indicative of the modifying step; and accounting for credits and debits corresponding to the audit information.
- 14. The method for providing the video program to the user for playback as recited in claim 12, wherein the modifying step comprises one of the following steps:
ignoring the temporal manipulation during playback of the plurality of portions; initially honoring the temporal manipulation until one of the plurality of portions is reached; ignoring the temporal manipulation if a particular portion does not belong to a predetermined category of portions;
- 15. The method for providing the video program to the user for playback as recited in claim 12, wherein the plurality of portions are chosen from a group consisting of commercials, credits, warning messages, and previews.
- 16. The method for providing the video program to the user for playback as recited in claim 12, further comprising steps of:
retrieving information on the user; modifying one of the plurality of portions in a manner consistent with the information.
- 17. The method for providing the video program to the user for playback as recited in claim 12, wherein the storing step is performed remote to a location of the user.
- 18. A method for playing a video program for a user that has an associated commercial, the method comprising steps of:
receiving the video program; providing the video program for display with a video screen; retrieving advertising options relevant to the video program; determining if the user is authorized to avoid normal playback of the associated commercial based, at least in part, on the advertising options; determining a location of the associated commercial in the video program; and skipping the associated commercial if the user is authorized.
- 19. The method for playing the video program for the user that has the associated commercial as recited in claim 18, wherein the skipping step is performed without requiring any action by the user during playback of the video program.
- 20. The method for playing the video program for the user that has the associated commercial as recited in claim 18, wherein the advertising options include categories of advertisement to skip.
- 21. The method for playing the video program for the user that has the associated commercial as recited in claim 18, further comprising a step of noting performance of the skipping step in audit information reported to a headend.
- 22. The method for playing the video program for the user that has the associated commercial as recited in claim 18, further comprising a step of inserting an alternative commercial to replace the associated commercial that was skipped.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application claims the benefit of and is a non-provisional of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/391,723 filed on Jun. 25, 2002, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
[0002] This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______, filed on the same day as the present application, entitled “Cross-Channel Interstitial Program Promotion” (temporarily referenced by Attorney Docket No. 019281-003200US), which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60391723 |
Jun 2002 |
US |