Systems and methods for managing access to media assets based on a projected location of a user

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016180108-A1
Application number	US-201414580365-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 23, 2014
Priority date	Dec 23, 2014
Publication date	Jun 23, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods and systems are disclosed herein for a media guidance application that allows access restrictions to be modified in a flexible manner based on a deviation in a user's projected location. Specifically, the media guidance application determines at an end of a first time period whether a user is in a projected location for a second time period. If the user is in a projected location for the second time period, the media guidance application sets a second level of media access restriction. However, if the media guidance application determines that the user is not in the projected location for the second time period, the media guidance application maintains the first level of media access restriction.

First claim

1 . A method for modifying access to media content, the method comprising:
setting, for a first time period, a first level of access restriction to media content; determining, for a second time period, a second level of access restriction to the media content based on a projected location of a user during the second time period, wherein the second time period is different from and consecutively follows the first time period; determining that an end of the first time period has been reached; in response to determining that the end of the first time period has been reached, determining whether the user is in a different location than the projected location; in response to determining that the user is in a different location than the projected location at the end of the first time period, maintaining the first level of access restriction; and in response to determining that the user is in the projected location at the end of the first time period, replacing the first level of access restriction with the second level of access restriction.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
during the second time period, and subsequent to determining that the user is in a different location than the projected location, determining that the user entered the projected location; and in response to determining that the user entered the projected location, automatically replacing the first level of access restriction with the second level of access restriction.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the user is in a different location than the projected location comprises periodically querying a database comprising location information of the user.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising, when maintaining the first level of access restriction during the second time period, notifying the user that the first level of access restriction will be maintained when the second time period begins.

5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing an option to the user to override the maintaining of the first level of access restriction; and in response to the user selecting the option, replacing the first level of access restriction with the second level of access restriction.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing, to the user, an option to modify the second time period; and in response to the user selecting the option, modifying the second time period for a duration specified by the user.

7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
denying access to a media asset during the second time period, wherein the media asset is restricted under the first level of access restriction and is unrestricted under the second level of access restriction; and notifying a party that is attempting to access the media asset that access to the media asset is restricted because the user is not at the projected location.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the user is in the different location than the projected location of the user comprises:
retrieving a potential location of the user from a calendar application; determining whether the retrieved potential location of the user is different from the projected location of the user; and in response to determining that the retrieved potential location of the user is different from the projected location of the user, determining that the user is in the different location than the projected location of the user.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the user is in the different location than the projected location of the user comprises:
determining a potential location of the user based on a publication by the user to another user; determining whether the potential location of the user is different from the projected location of the user; and in response to determining that the potential location of the user is different from the projected location of the user, determining that the user is in the different location than the projected location of the user.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein determining the potential location of the user further comprises:
receiving a communication associated with at least one of a short message service, multimedia messaging service, a calendar application, and a section of a website associated with the user; and determining, based on the communication, the potential location of the user.

11 . A system for modifying access to media content, the system comprising:
storage circuitry configured to store a projected location of a user during a second time period; and control circuitry configured to:
set, for a first time period, a first level of access restriction to media content;
determine, for the second time period, a second level of access restriction to the media content based on the projected location of the user during the second time period, wherein the second time period is different from and consecutively follows the first time period;
determine that an end of the first time period has been reached;
in response to determining that the end of the first time period has been reached, determine whether the user is in a different location than the projected location;
in response to determining that the user is in a different location than the projected location at the end of the first time period, maintain the first level of access restriction; and
in response to determining that the user is in the projected location at the end of the first time period, replace the first level of access restriction with the second level of access restriction.

12 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising:
control circuitry configured to:
during the second time period, and subsequent to determining that the user is in a different location than the projected location, determine that the user entered the projected location; and
in response to determining that the user entered the projected location, automatically replace the first level of access restriction with the second level of access restriction.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the control circuitry configured to determine whether the user is in a different location than the projected location is further configured to periodically query a database comprising location information of the user.

14 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising control circuitry configured to, when maintaining the first level of access restriction during the second time period, notify the user that the first level of access restriction will be maintained when the second time period begins.

15 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising control circuitry configured to:
provide an option to the user to override the maintaining of the first level of access restriction; and in response to the user selecting the option, replace the first level of access restriction with the second level of access restriction.

16 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising control circuitry configured to:
provide, to the user, an option to modify the second time period; and in response to the user selecting the option, modify the second time period for a duration specified by the user.

17 . The system of claim 11 , further comprising control circuitry configured to:
deny access to a media asset during the second time period, wherein the media asset is restricted under the first level of access restriction and is unrestricted under the second level of access restriction; and notify a party that is attempting to access the media asset that access to the media asset is rest

Assignees

• Rovi Guides Inc

Inventors

• Nichols Michael R
• Cook Sally

Classifications

• G06F21/604 Primary

  Tools and structures for managing or administering access control systems · CPC title

• H04N21/454

  Content {or additional data} filtering, e.g. blocking advertisements · CPC title

• G06F21/6218 Primary

  to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database · CPC title

• G06F2221/2111

  Location-sensitive, e.g. geographical location, GPS · CPC title

• H04N21/4751 Primary

  for defining user accounts, e.g. accounts for children · CPC title