Authentication method and system
View Patent ↗Provide herein is a method and system capable of authenticating transactions involving at least one service provider and one or more users who are each in electronic communication. This electronic communication can be, for example, SMS, MMS, e-mail, or online account messaging. It is an aspect of certain embodiments where the transaction is an authentication and/or verification of an entity. Examples of such entities are products, actions and users.
1. A method comprising:
receiving, at a network server, a user communication from a user's mobile device, the communication relating to use of software during a trial time period;
performing, by the network server, a first verification specific to the user's mobile device;
in response to a determination that the first verification has been successful, the network server transmitting a first access or activation code to the user enabling use of the software during the trial time period by the user;
associating, by the network server, an identification of the user's mobile device with the first activation code to create a digital fingerprint specific to the trial use of the software by the user;
storing the digital fingerprint by the network server;
during the trial time period, the network server authorizing activation of the software by the user based on the digital fingerprint which is specific to the trial use of the software by the user;
during or after expiration of the trial time period, the network server sending, to the user's mobile device, an offer communication to purchase the software;
receiving, at the network server, an acceptance communication from the user's mobile device in response to the offer communication;
performing, by the network server, a second verification specific to the user's mobile device;
in response to both a determination that the second verification has been successful and receipt of the acceptance communication by the network server from the user's mobile device, the network server enabling access to the user to enable further use of the software by the user after the expiration of the trial time period;
associating, by the network server, the identification of the user's mobile device with the purchase of the software by the user;
storing, by the network server, the association of the identification of the user's mobile device with the purchase of the software by the user;
prohibiting re-use of the identification of the user's mobile device to obtain trial use of the software in the future based on storage of the association of the identification of the user's mobile device with the trial use of the software by the user; and
after purchase of the software, authorizing subsequent activation of the purchased software by the user based on the stored association of the identification of the user's mobile device with the purchase of the software by the user.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing of the first verification includes sending a first verification communication to an address of the user's mobile device.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first verification communication included in the first verification is a text message, Short Message Service message, Multimedia Message Service message, electronic-mail message or Web browser input.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first verification communication included in the first verification is sent from an address currently available for the network server to select for use in sending communications.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing of the second verification includes sending an authorization request communication to an address of the user's mobile device.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the authorization request communication included in the second verification is a text message, Short Message Service message, Multimedia Message Service message, electronic-mail message or Web browser input.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the authorization request communication included in the second verification is sent from an address currently available for the network server to select for use in sending communications.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the performing the first verification comprises, in response to receiving the software-related communication from the user's mobile device, the network server retrieving an address of the user's mobile device from a database and generating a message to be sent to the user's mobile device address based on the received software-related communication.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the retrieval of the user's mobile device address comprises sending a request to a third-party to retrieve the user's mobile device address.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the performing the first verification further comprises causing the generated message to be sent from a first reply address to the retrieved mobile device address, wherein the first reply address is selected from a plurality of available reply addresses prior to sending the generated message.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the performing the first verification comprises determining whether a reply message received at the first reply address from the mobile device address authorizes registration of the software.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein determining whether the reply message authorizes registration determines if the reply message is sent to the first reply address from the mobile device address.
13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the second verification comprises causing one or more offer messages to be sent to the user's mobile device from a second reply address, the second reply address being selected from the same plurality of possible reply addresses as the first reply address.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the second verification further comprises determining if an acceptance message to the second reply address authorizes purchase of the software.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the second reply address is selected from the same plurality of possible reply addresses as the first reply address with the exception of the first reply address.
16. A system for facilitating authentication of software use rights, the system comprising:
at least one network server that is coupled to at least one communication network and is configured to receive a user communication from a user's mobile device via the at least one communication device, the communication relating to use of software during a trial time period,
wherein the at least one network server performs a first verification specific to the user's mobile device, and, in response to a determination that the first verification was successful, transmits a first access or activation code to the user enabling use of the software during the trial time period by the user,
wherein, the at least one network server is further configured to associate an identification of the user's mobile device with the first activation code to create a digital fingerprint specific to the trial use of the software by the user, to store the digital fingerprint, and, during the trial time period, authorize activation of the software by the user based on the digital fingerprint which is specific to the trial use of the software by the user;
wherein, during or after expiration of the trial time period, the network server sends to the user's mobile device an offer communication to purchase the software,
wherein the network server receives an acceptance communication from the user's mobile device in response to the offer communication and performs a second verification specific to the user's mobile device,
wherein, in response to a determination that the second verification was successful and receipt of the acceptance communication by the network server from the user's mobile device, the network server enables access to the user to enable further use of the software by the user after the expiration of the trial time period, and
wherein, the at least one network server is further configured to associate the identification of the user's mobile device with the purchase of the software by the user, to store the association of the identification of the user's mobile device with the purchase of the software by the user, and to prohibit re-use of the identification of the user's mobile device to obtain trial use of the software in the future based on storage of the association of the identification of the user's mobile device with the trial use of the software by the user,
wherein the at least one network server is further configured to authorize activation of the purchased software by the user based on the stored association of the identification of the user's mobile device with the purchase of the software by the user.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the performing of the first verification includes sending a first verification communication to an address of the user's mobile device.
18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the first verification communication included in the first verification is a text message, Short Message Service message, Multimedia Message Service message, electronic-mail message or Web browser input.
19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the first verification communication included in the first verification is sent from an address currently available for the network server to select for use in sending communications.
20. The system of claim 16 , wherein the performing of the second verification includes sending an authorization request communication to an address of the user's mobile device.
21. The system of claim 20 , wherein the authorization request communication included in the second verification is a text message, Short Message Service message, Multimedia Message Service message, electronic-mail message or Web browser input.
22. The system of claim 20 , wherein the authorization request communication included in the second verification is sent from an address currently available for the network server to select for use in sending communications.
23. The system of claim 16 , wherein the performing the first verification comprises, in response to receiving the software-related communication from the user's mobile device, the network server retrieving an address of the user's mobile device from a database and generating a message to be sent to the user's mobile device address based on the received software-related communication.
24. The system of claim 23 , wherein the retrieval of the user's mobile device address comprises sending a request to a third-party to retrieve the user's mobile device address.
25. The system of claim 23 , wherein the performing the first verification further comprises causing the generated message to be sent from a first reply address to the retrieved mobile device address, wherein the first reply address is selected from a plurality of available reply addresses prior to sending the generated message.
26. The system of claim 25 , wherein the performing the first verification comprises determining whether a reply message received at the first reply address from the mobile device address authorizes registration of the software.
27. The system of claim 26 , wherein determining whether the reply message authorizes the registration determines if the reply message is sent to the first reply address from the mobile device address.
28. The system of claim 25 , wherein the second verification comprises causing one or more offer messages to be sent to the user's mobile device from a second reply address, the second reply address being selected from the same plurality of possible reply addresses as the first reply address.
29. The system of claim 28 , wherein the second verification further comprises determining if an acceptance message to the second reply address authorizes purchase of the software.
30. The system of claim 28 , wherein the second reply address is selected from the same plurality of possible reply addresses as the first reply address with the exception of the first reply address.