Regulating users of online forums

Details Regulating users of online forums Regulating users of online forums

1998-05-13

2002-01-01

Coulter, Kenneth R. (Department: 2154)

Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput

Computer conferencing

C709S225000, C709S218000, C345S215000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06336133

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND
1. Technical Field
This invention relates to distributed computer services, particularly computer services having online forums.
2. Background Information
An online forum is a communications interchange in which people may communicate with others through successive electronic transmissions between respective computer systems. An online forum, or any other type of distributed computer services, may be implemented on a distributed computer system such as that shown in FIG.
1
. Forum participants (equivalently, users of the computer services) typically are scattered across a large geographical area and communicate with one or more central server systems
100
through respective client systems
102
(e.g., a personal or laptop computer). In practice, the server system
100
typically will not be a single monolithic entity but rather will be a network of interconnected server computers, possibly physically dispersed from each other, each dedicated to its own set of duties and/or to a particular geographical region. In such a case, the individual servers are interconnected by a network of communication links, in known fashion. One such server system is “America Online” from America Online Incorporated of Virginia.
Each client system
102
runs client software that allows it to communicate in a meaningful manner with corresponding software running on the server system
100
. The client systems
102
communicate with the server system
100
through various channels, such as a modem
104
connected to a telephone line
106
or a direct Internet connection using a transfer protocol such as TCP/IP (Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). The server system
100
is responsible for receiving input from the client systems
102
, manipulating the collective body of input information (and possibly information from other sources) into a useful format, and retransmitting the formatted information back to one or more clients
102
for output on an output device, such as a display screen.
Referring to
FIG. 2
, one type of forum is a “chat room”
200
, in which the various participants
204
(e.g., “Allens
9
,” “JOSHUAALEX,” etc.) may enter text which appears in a scrolling text window
202
on each participant's computer display screen. In the example in
FIG. 2
, the chat room
200
has
22
participants whose identities (or “screen names”) are listed in a scrolling window
210
. A participant
204
may respond to the comment of another participant
204
by entering a line of text in an edit box
206
and activating (e.g., by clicking with a pointer device, such as a mouse) a SEND button
208
. In response, the text in the scrolling text window
202
scrolls upwards and the newly entered line of text is displayed at the bottom of the scrolling text window
202
. In the illustrated example, the last participant to enter a comment was JOSHUAALEX, who typed “TEXAS.”
The chat room
200
shown in
FIG. 2
is “public”, meaning that it has multiple participants who were placed in the chat room by the computer-service provider and who most likely never have met or conversed with one another before. A comment by a participant in a public forum may be seen by all of the participants of the chat room. If a participant desires some privacy, that participant may “open” and enter a “private” chat room (for example, by clicking on a SETUP button
212
), and thereafter invite one or more other participants to enter the private chat room. Once in a private forum, participants may communicate with one another without fear that uninvited participants will be able to see their comments.
When a participant in a forum, whether public or private, makes a comment that others in the forum regard as offensive, in poor taste, wildly incorrect, or otherwise objectionable, the offending participant most likely will be “flamed” by one or more of the other participants. A “flame” is a reprimand or other stringent response directed at the offending party. One purpose behind flaming another participant is to dissuade the offender, through embarrassment or intimidation, from making further objectionable comments. In this manner, if the offending user chooses to curb his or her behavior in response to the flaming, a forum may be crudely regulated or “policed” by the forum's participants. However, the offending participant may continue to behave in an objectionable manner. Further, a participant who overly “flames” other participants may also be objectionable. Accordingly, participant policing of forums does not always work well. In such cases, offended participants may drop out of “flame-filled” forums, and/or the online service must devote resources to actively police problematic participants.
Other objectionable behavior includes sending one or more messages to “spoof” other users as to the sender's identity in order to try to get confidential information (e.g., credit card numbers or passwords) sent in response (sometimes called “password fishing”).
Another problem that can arise in online systems is “resource hogging”, where a participant uses features such as broadcast or multi-cast messaging to send a large number of messages to other users in a short period of time (sometimes called “spamming”). Such resource hogging deprives other users of server resources, and can slow an online system response time to undesirable levels.
Accordingly, the inventor has determined that there is a need for a better way to police recalcitrant participants in online forums and to reduce spamming. The present invention provides a method and means for accomplishing this goal.
SUMMARY
Various embodiments of the invention can include one or more of the following features.
Regulating a user of a computer-based service may include receiving input about a first user from at least one other user of the computer-based service, determining a degree to which the other user can influence a parameter associated with the first user, and modifying the first user's parameter based on the received input and the determined degree of influence. The first user's parameter, for example, can relate to the first user's ability to use the computer-based service. The first user's parameter may remain unaffected when the degree of influence is determined to be zero.
The determination of the degree of influence may include considering a type of action engaged in by the first user that caused the other user to provide input. The other user can have a high degree of influence on the first user's parameter when the type of action engaged in by the first user that caused the other user to provide input was personally directed at the other user. For example, the other user may have a high degree of influence on the first user's parameter when the type of action engaged in by the first user was sending an Instant Message.
The determination of the degree of influence may include considering one or more factors relating to the first user or the other user or both. These factors can include a user's behavioral index, rate limiting state, resource (e.g., memory, number of forums occupied) usage, past complaints, illegal (e.g., hacker) activity, amount of revenue (e.g., subscription, advertising, e-commerce) generated, and messaging patterns. The basis of comparison can be to a predetermined threshold, a dynamically shifting threshold, the other user's corresponding level, or any combination thereof.
The determination of the degree of influence may include capping the degree of influence to a maximum amount, for example, either quantitatively (e.g., by applying a ceiling function) or temporally (e.g., by applying a time-out function). If a time-out function is applied, capping of the degree of influence may include applying a function based on an elapsed time since an occurrence of an action engaged in by the first user that caused the other user to provide input.
The determination of the degree of influence can include considering an interpersonal context between the first user and the other user, for exa

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