| US 7,542,936 B1 | ||
| Method, apparatus and system for marketing, delivering, and collecting payment for information | ||
| Karl Jacob, San Francisco, Calif. (US); Mark Halstead, Berkeley, Calif. (US); and Steven Lurie, San Francisco, Calif. (US) | ||
| Assigned to UTBK, Inc., Dover, Del. (US) | ||
| Filed on Nov. 02, 2000, as Appl. No. 9/705,388. | ||
| Int. Cl. G06Q 40/00 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 705—37 [705/38; 705/36] | 76 Claims |
| 1. A method implemented in an email application program, the method comprising:
the email application program receiving an electronic mail message sent to a customer, the electronic mail message including
an inaccessible portion of information and a price to access the inaccessible portion of information;
the email application program displaying a list of received messages, with each message displayed in the list showing a field
for a subject of a corresponding message in the list and a separate field for a price to access an inaccessible portion of
the corresponding message in the list;
the email application program receiving a request to access the inaccessible portion of information in the electronic mail
message;
in response to receiving the request, the email application program communicating with a central database to charge a pre-established
user account pre-associated with the customer, according to the price to access the inaccessible portion of information; and
the email application program displaying the inaccessible portion of information to the customer, in response to completion
of charging the pre-established user account of the customer according to the price to access the inaccessible portion of
information.
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