Data management system and method

Details Data management system and method Data management system and method

2000-07-20

2004-08-24

Sam, Phirin (Department: 2661)

Multiplex communications

Communication techniques for information carried in plural...

Adaptive

C709S219000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06782003

ABSTRACT:

The present invention relates generally to computers and communications, and more specifically, to a method and system for moving personal information over computer networks.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is well known that data communication networks such as the Internet, Wide Area Networks (WANs) and Local Area Networks (LANs), offer efficient and ubiquitous means of organizing and distributing computerized data. These attributes have resulted in their widespread use for both business and personal applications. For example, the Internet is now a common medium for operating online auctions, academic and public forums, distributing publications such as newspapers and magazines, and performing electronic commerce and electronic mail transactions.
New services are being provided over the Internet which are personalized or customized to users' requirements, which has resulted in personal data being stored in the service provider's domain. However, there are no effective ways for the user to easily relocate this personal data from one service provider to another; personal data residing with the old service provider must be manually re-entered with the new service provider.
FIG. 1
presents an exemplary system for a typical networked application or service, such as electronic mail (E-mail). The interconnection of various hosts and other devices is shown over an Internet
100
. The Internet
100
consists of a vast interconnection of computers, servers, routers, computer networks and public telecommunication networks which allows two parties to communicate via whatever entities happen to be interconnected at any particular time. Presently, the systems that make up the Internet
100
comprise many different varieties of computer hardware and software. In general, this variety is not a great hindrance as the Internet
100
is unified by a small number of standard transport protocols.
Access to this Internet
100
is provided by Internet Service Providers (ISP)
130
who convert the various communication protocols used by end-user computers
140
,
150
to the standard Internet protocols. For example, end users
140
,
150
may be connected to an ISP
130
using wireless communications, or hardwired connections such as cable modems, television set-top boxes, or telephone line modems, using various technologies such as ADSL (asynchronous digital subscriber line), ISDN (integrated services digital network), or other known media and technologies.
Additionally, a number of Application Service Providers (ASP)
110
,
120
are typically connected to the Internet
100
. These ASPs
110
,
120
are third-parties which provide software and other computer-based services to users across a wide area network from a remote location. Generally, these services are provided for a fee (usually monthly or yearly), though the ASPs
110
,
120
may offer basic services for no cost and generate revenues in a peripheral manner, such as through advertising or sale of advanced services. The services offered by the ASPs
110
,
120
might include:
commercial or personal banking;
investment services such as stock portfolio tracking;
calendar/appointment books;
contact lists, address books;
mailing lists;
sports
ews/entertainment/weather forecast preferences;
document storage, file backup services, distributed or shared files provider;
collaboration tools such as message boards;
sales automation applications;
folders;
project files;
enterprise resource planning (ERP) software;
entertainment services, such as networked games; and
office applications.
Generally, a service such as Email may be provided by a number of competing ASPs
110
,
120
. Many of these ASPs
110
,
120
provide their service using a standard protocol, HTML (hypertext markup language), which allows access in a ubiquitous fashion from any computer having an appropriate ‘browser’ connected to the Internet. HTML is one of the standard languages of the Internet
100
for defining the structure and format of a web page.
When an end-user wishes to access their Email, they do so by ‘connecting’ to their Email provider, for example, ASP
110
and logging on by entering a userID and Password in response to a challenge from the ASP
110
. Standard HTML or equivalent protocols allow the end-user to read, create, send, and store Emails as well as create, read and store related information such as address lists, on the Email provider's
110
website.
FIG. 1
is something of a simplification, as ISPs
130
and ASPs
110
,
120
are often connected to the Internet
100
through Network Access Points (NAPs), rather than directly as shown in FIG.
1
. As well, the Internet
100
itself is far more complex than that shown in
FIG. 1
, including for example, leased and private communication lines and subnetworks, firewalls and routers. However, these details would be well known to one skilled in the art.
Presently, the only way to relocate personal data from one service provider to another is to do so manually. In the case of Email, for example, relocating from ASP
110
to ASP
120
would require one to:
1. create a new Email account on ASP
120
;
2. recreate the address book or contacts list, which might involve accessing both accounts and manually ‘cutting and pasting’ individual entries from one service provider to the other. In the best case, an intermediate file would be created by the user by ‘exporting’ data from the old Email ASP server
110
and ‘importing’ that same data into the new Email ASP server
120
, possibly requiring some experimentation or conversion to rationalise the two formats;
3. retain access to old Email, both sent and received;
4. replicate the folder structure used to store Emails, which involves inspecting the existing structure and manually creating the same, or similar folder structure on the new Email ASP server
120
;
5. individually transfer each Email message from the old Email ASP server
110
by copying it to their computer, and possibly manipulating its format, then copying it from there to the new Email ASP server
120
;
6. periodically checking the old Email ASP account to collect Email sent to the old address, with the consequent need to regularly check two accounts, and the possibility of forgetting to access the old Email account regularly, and missing important messages until they are too old;
7. inform all Email contacts of the new address; and
8. arrange for the old Email provider to forward any new Email to the new account.
Thus, when an end-user wishes to change from one Email provider to another, the transfer or copying of the data stored on the first (old) ASP's server to the second (new) ASP's server is a major investment in time for the end-user, and is an error-prone process. Omission of a single file could be critical, and at the least annoying. Further, if the Emails had been stored in some form of hierarchy using ‘folders’, then this folder structure must also be recreated, and the files sent to the appropriate folder. As a consequence, misfiling is another potential hazard.
Because of the physical difficulty and practical hazards of relocating personal data from one ASP
110
,
120
to another, end-users have been reluctant to do so; a condition known in the industry as ‘stickiness’, since users are forced to ‘stick’ with one service. This “stickiness” presents a tremendous barrier to the entry of new ASPs and to open competition between existing providers. To capture costumers from their competition, a new provider must offer enough of an incentive in terms of price, features, or quality to convince customers to accept the difficulties of relocating ASPs.
If the above problems could be overcome, end-users could easily transfer their personal data from one Application Service Provider to another, reducing the barriers to new competition, and permitting the end-user to exercise real choice.
There is therefore a need for a means of replicating the personalized environment from one service provider to another, over the Internet and similar networks, provided with consideration fo

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