CONTROLLING ACCESS TO NAME SERVICE FOR A DOMAIN NAME SYSTEM
A system and method is provided for using a DNS server operating on a wide area network to enable an authorized reception device to receive (or be provided with) restricted content data associated with a particular wide area network address and redefine the domain name associated with a particular wide area network address. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an authorization application is adapted to provide the reception device with user-verification data, receive from the reception device verification data, and provide the filtering application with authorization data. The filtering application, which operates similarly to prior art DNS server systems, is further adapted to receive filtered data (i.e., password-required data and/or pseudo-domain-name data) and authorization data in order to provide an IP address of the content server to the reception device via a wide area network, such as the Internet.
1 . A method for directing access to content, the method comprising:
receiving, at a computing system, requests for content from a plurality of network-connected computing devices, each of the requests comprising a domain name, wherein the computing system is operably associated with a memory holding a data structure that associates IP addresses for network content servers with domain names;
determining for ones of the requests a network address based on associations of respective domain names in the requests to network addresses in the data structure, wherein the network address comprises at least one of an IP address and at least one of a redirected domain name; and
providing the network addresses to requesting ones of the plurality of network-connected computing devices.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising operating an authorization server in communication with the computing system and with the plurality of network devices, wherein the authorization server is operably associated with a second memory holding an authorization application, the authorization application operable to verify user access privileges for each of the requests.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the authorization is further configured to obtain verification data from ones of the network devices for verifying user access privileges.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the authorization server is further configured to provide authorization data to the computing system.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the providing further comprises providing the IP address together with the redirected domain name in response to requests for which the authorization data indicates that the user is not authorized to receive unfiltered information.
6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the providing further comprises providing a message indicating that access to requested content is not authorized in response to requests for which the authorization data indicates that the user is not authorized to receive requested information.
7 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the providing further comprises providing the IP address together with the redirected domain name in response to requests for which the authorization data matching authorization data in the domain name table is not received.
8 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the obtaining verification data further comprises obtaining payment information from users requesting access to specified content.
9 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the obtaining verification data further comprises obtaining information from users, the information selected from the group consisting of a user password and user identifying information.
10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising rewarding users for designating the computing system as their default name server for handling domain name requests.
11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising communicating an authorization status to content servers via the redirected domain names provided in the responding step.
12 . A computing system for directing access to content, the computing system comprising:
a processor;
a memory holding a data structure that associates IP addresses for network content servers with domain names; and
one or more modules configured for execution on the processor in order to cause the computing system to:
receive requests for content from a plurality of network-connected computing devices, each of the requests comprising a domain name;
determine for ones of the requests a network address based on associations of respective domain names in the requests to network addresses in the domain name data structure, wherein the network address comprises at least one of an IP address and a redirected domain name; and
respond to the requests by providing the network addresses to requesting ones of the plurality of network devices.
13 . The computing system of claim 12 , wherein the computing system communicates with an authorization server, wherein the authorization server is operably associated with a second memory holding an authorization application, the authorization application operable to verify user access privileges for each of the requests.
14 . The computing system of claim 13 , wherein the computing system receives authorization data from the authorization server.
15 . The computing system of claim 14 , wherein one or modules further cause the computing system to provide the IP address together with the redirected domain name in response to requests for which the authorization data indicates that the user is not authorized to receive unfiltered information.
16 . The computing system of claim 14 , wherein one or modules further cause the computing system to provide a message indicating that access to requested content is not authorized in response to requests for which the authorization data indicates that the user is not authorized to receive requested information.
17 . A tangible computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a computing system, cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:
receiving, at a computing system, requests for content from a plurality of network-connected computing devices, each of the requests comprising a domain name, wherein the computing system is operably associated with a memory holding a data structure that associates IP addresses for network content servers with domain names;
determining for ones of the requests a network address based on an associations of respective domain names in the requests to network addresses in the data structure, wherein the network address comprises at least one of an IP address and a redirected domain name; and
responding to the requests by providing the network addresses to requesting ones of the plurality of network devices.
18 . The computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise operating an authorization server in communication with the computing system and with the plurality of network devices, wherein the authorization server is operably associated with a second memory holding an authorization application, the authorization application operable to verify user access privileges for each of the requests
19 . The computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise rewarding users for designating the computing system as their default name server for handling domain name requests.
20 . The computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise communicating an authorization status to content servers via the redirected domain names provided in the responding step.