Generating revenue for the use of softgoods that are freely distributed over a network

Abstract

An on-line electronic commerce transaction for facilitating purchase of digital products (softgoods) after enabling a user to preview the softgoods. Creators of the softgoods enter into an agreement with an e-commerce agency in which the agency agrees to handle sales of the softgoods and to return a portion of the revenue to the creators. Creators are provided with a softgood authoring tool that automates the softgood creation process. Before the softgoods are distributed, a unique identifier is included in the softgood by this authoring tool. To play a softgood, a prospective purchaser downloads or otherwise acquires a player program. The player program enables a prospective purchaser a limited preview of each softgood. If a user decides to purchase a softgood, the player program communicates with the e-commerce agency over the Internet to facilitate the purchase transaction. During this transaction, the prospective purchaser is prompted to enter a financial account number. The player program encrypts this account number and other data transmitted to the e-commerce server, unless the prospective purchaser's credit card information and other personal data are already stored in a database maintained by the e-commerce server. The validity of the credit transaction is confirmed with an appropriate approval agency, and if approved, a registration value is provided to the player program for use in registering the softgood on the user's computer. If the softgood has not been purchased and registered on the user's computer, it will not be played by the player program beyond the permitted preview.