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WebSense Patents Censorware System
Matthew Skala writes "As reported in SiliconValley.internet.com, filtering-software vendor Websense has received US Patent 6,606,659 on a "System and method for controlling access to internet sites". The new features in the patented system seem to revolve around using time limits instead of filtering sites out entirely; offering users a choice of viewing a site and having it logged, or not viewing it; and a scheme for automatically categorizing sites that looks very much like the "Bayesian filters" we've heard so much about in recent weeks. You may be interested in the filtering company's press release about their patent, or my own view."
Can anyone comment on the existance of prior "software" using these features. I seem to recall a "time limiting" software designed for Windows 3.1 back in around 1994 or 1995. There have been "filtering" software utilities for longer than that.
Is this another example of the abuse of software patents? I think I might move to the EU (assuming they stay sane and reject the ability to restrict software development through patents).
Stewey
There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who don't.
I don't want to use a censorware application anyway. Hopefully they price things high so that other people won't use them, an in particular, so that the government won't use them (in libraries, etc).
What about all those people who burned karma saying they wanted to protect our freedom by patenting censorship? You thought they were crazy didn't you?
I've been using the same basic web site access control algorithm for years. A description of my code reads very similar to the abstract.
My system maintains a database of Internet files, (not sites, though I don't know what the difference would be...)
My system does not limit the number of visits to a category a limited number of times, however, it does limit to download links once per user, which is (probably the same thing).
My system allows users to request access, and then have access granted.
I don't log which pages/sites users visit, but I know many apps that do (like nuke).
I'm not a patent attorney, does this mean that my access control code violates the patent?
Truly bizarre.
I helped to sysadmin a Novell Netware installation back when I was at high school in '94.
I seem to remember that they had a time limiting system. Per user, you could set when that user was allowed to log on and access the network.
We used it make sure that users couldn't access the network when they weren't supposed to be able to - so kids didn't share their accounts with others or access the network outside of the allowed times (after hours unsupervised, etc).
I'm not sure how this would relate to the patent (I'm not a patent lawyer), but this was a form of network censorship based on time.
The patent is GB2366891. The crux of it is that programs that use more than a certain percentage of the CPU (eg: 50%) are incrementally slowed down by quickly pausing/unpausing their threads at short intervals until their CPU usage is reduced below the threshold.
How does this qualify for a patent? It's self evident! Things like this have been done in real time control systems (software and physical) for decades. It is nothing more than a high-frequency 1-bit DAC controller. Just because instead of controlling chemical reaction rates, the system is used for controlling processor usage, suddenly this method is worthy of a patent? Take a look at one of their diagrams. Is that the standard for new and inventive developments in the software industry? A flow chart with four, count them, four steps?
The patent system needs an overhaul, and fast.
Here is a patent application for a pepper shaker shaped like a dog where the pepper comes out of the dog's ass. That's what is being patented: the fact that the pepper comes out of the dog's ass and that it can be called a 'pooper shaker'.