Unified parental locks

Abstract

A system and method for controlling a plurality of parental control subsystems within an entertainment system is provided. The system includes a computer interfaced to a plurality of audio and/or audiovisual devices, wherein at least two of the audio and/or audiovisual devices within the system each comprise a native parental control subsystem or locking mechanism having adjustable parameters. A software locking mechanism operates the computer to allow a user to input one or more general parental control parameters and then sets the adjustable parameters of each native parental control subsystem within the system by mapping the parental control parameters onto each separate, native mechanisms for each device.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A system for controlling a plurality of parental control subsystems in an audio/visual system, said system configurable by a graphical user interface (GUI), comprising: 
 a computer having a memory and a display exhibiting a GUI;    one or more audio and/or audiovisual devices interfaced to said computer, wherein at least one of said audio and/or audiovisual devices comprises a native parental control subsystem having adjustable parameters;    control programming which operates the computer to receive user input, said user input allowing a user to choose one or more general parental control parameters; and    control programming which operates the computer to set the adjustable parameters of each native parental control subsystem within said system.    
     
     
         2 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein said one or more audio and/or audiovisual devices comprises a plurality of audio and/or audiovisual devices interfaced to said computer, and wherein at least two of said audio and/or audiovisual devices comprise a native parental control subsystem having adjustable parameters.  
     
     
         3 . A system according to  claim 2 , wherein said at least two audiovisual devices are multimedia devices.  
     
     
         4 . A system according to  claim 3 , wherein said multimedia devices are one or more DVD devices, video tape devices, television devices, or any combination thereof.  
     
     
         5 . A system according to  claim 4 , wherein said television devices are selected from the group consisting of televisions, cable television set top boxes, digital satellite service set top converters, television tuner cards, and any combination thereof.  
     
     
         6 . A system according to  claim 2 , wherein said user input comprises user responses to a series of on-screen questions.  
     
     
         7 . A system according to  claim 2 , wherein said user input comprises user selection of on-screen items displayed via said graphical user interface.  
     
     
         8 . A system according to  claim 7 , wherein said graphical user interface comprises a first on-screen overlay, said first on-screen overlay comprising audiovisual content-based user-selectable items, and a second on-screen overlay, said second on-screen overlay comprising television channel-based user-selectable items.  
     
     
         9 . A system according to  claim 8 , wherein said audiovisual content-based user selectable-items comprise television programming ratings, movie ratings, or both.  
     
     
         10 . A system according to  claim 8 , further comprising control programming which operates the computer to provide on-screen visual indicia of user input.  
     
     
         11 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein at least two audio and/or audiovisual devices are interfaced to said computer, the at least two audio and/or audiovisual devices including native parental control subsystems.  
     
     
         12 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein the adjustable control parameters of the native parental control system include a first parental control scheme and a second parental control scheme, the first parental control scheme being incompatible with the second parental control scheme, and wherein the control programming allows a user to choose general control parameters of the first parental control scheme and the second parental control scheme.  
     
     
         13 . A system according to  claim 1 , wherein control programming which operates the computer to set the adjustable parameters of each native parental control subsystems is based on the received user input choosing the one or more general parental parameters.