The proliferation of high speed cellular data networks, and other alternative forms of providing internet service, such as via satellite, may be increasing competition in the internet service provider market. In order to retain current users and attract new users, and/or derive additional revenue therefrom, service providers may be looking to offer additional hosted services. Since users often use a router to share internet service amongst several devices on their local, e.g. home or office, networks, the hosted services may be more valuable if the services can be individually provisioned, and configured, for each device on the users' local networks.
For example, users may be attracted to a hosted content control service for which individual content control policies may be implemented for each device on the user's network. Current service provider hosted services may be unable to distinguish between multiple devices on a user's network when the user utilizes a router with Network Address Translation (“NAT”). A router utilizing NAT may cause all communications originating from the user's network to appear to have originated from the same device. Thus, service providers may be unable to individually provision hosted services to these users individually or otherwise provide differentiated services. Since the service providers are unable to individually provision the services they are further unable to individually configure the services for each user. Thus, the services must be implemented to all of the users and/or devices and the services must be configured uniformly across all of the users and/or devices.
For example, in the case of a content control service, parents may wish to prevent their children from being exposed to inappropriate content on the Internet while reserving their own ability to view such content. There may be a device level content control solution, such as content control software, that parents may install on their children's internet accessible devices. The content control software may prevent the children from accessing inappropriate content through the device. However, some children may be able to circumvent a device level content control solution, and thereby access inappropriate content. In addition, parents may be responsible for maintaining a device level solution and ensuring the software is regularly updated. A content control solution implemented at a service provider level, while still offering content control on a per device basis, may be immune to the tampering of children and may remove the maintenance burden from parents. However, a service provider level content control solution offering device level control may be unappealing to parents using a home router implementing NAT, who, for example, wish to access such services but prevent access by their children, because the service provider may be unable to determine the device originating a given communication and, therefore, all devices on the network would be blocked from accessing such content.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds