Method of and system for controlling internet access

Abstract

A method of and system for controlling access to the Internet by members of an organization that includes at least one supervisor and at least one non-supervisor for which limited Internet access is desired. The system maintains for each member of the organization a session identifier. When the system establishes an Internet session between a member of the organization and the Internet, the system initially sets a user session identifier for said Internet session to a default session identifier, which is the session identifier for the lowers access level member of the organization. When the member requests a resource, the system determines if an access level rating for requested source is greater than the value of the access level field of the user session identifier. If so, the system blocks the resource and presents member with choices of logging on to the system as a specific member of the organization with a higher access level, or appealing the blocking to a supervisor.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for controlling access to the Internet, comprising the steps of: 
 receiving a request to access a resource located on the Internet, by a member of an organization;    associating a user session identifier with the request, wherein the user session identifier includes an access level;    determining if the requested resource is appropriate for the member of the organization through the use of the access level;    if the requested resource is determined to be appropriate for the member of the organization to view, providing the requested resource to the member of the organization, and    if the requested resource is determined not to be appropriate for the member of the organization to view, indicating to the member of the organization that the requested resource is not able to be viewed.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining step further comprises: 
 accessing a policy provider to obtain a rating for the requested resource.    
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the determining step further comprises: 
 comparing the access level to the rating obtained from the policy provider.    
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the access level and the rating obtained from the policy provider are given on the basis of age.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the member of the organization is a child.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the member of the organization is an employee.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising the step of: 
 determining if the requested resource is part of an exception list.    
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein if the requested resource is part of the exception list, providing access to the requested resource even if the access level of the user would not allow access to the resource.  
     
     
         9 . A system for controlling access to the Internet, the system comprising: 
 means for receiving a request to access a resource located on the Internet, by a member of an organization;    means for associating a user session identifier with the request, wherein the user session identifier includes an access level;    means for determining if the requested resource is appropriate for the member of the organization through the use of the access level;    if the requested resource is determined to be appropriate for the member of the organization to view, providing the requested resource to the member of the organization, and    if the requested resource is determined not to be appropriate for the member of the organization to view, indicating to the member of the organization that the requested resource is not able to be viewed.    
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the means for determining further comprises: 
 means for accessing a policy provider to obtain a rating for the requested resource.    
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the means for determining further comprises: 
 means for comparing the access level to the rating obtained from the policy provider.    
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the access level and the rating obtained from the policy provider are given on the basis of age.  
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the member of the organization is a child.  
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the member of the organization is an employee.  
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising: 
 means for determining if the requested resource is part of an exception list.    
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein if the requested resource is part of the exception list, providing access to the requested resource even if the access level of the user would not allow access to the resource.