US Patent 7209957 Downloadable control policies for instant messaging usage

A request is received from a parent or guardian of a minor to sign up for an Instant Messaging (IM) service on behalf of the minor. The parent or guardian creates a profile comprising one or more control policies for usage of the IM service by the minor using a Web-based profile administrator interface. Thereafter, a request is received by an IM server from the minor to log on to the IM service using a client device. The IM server communicates information from the profile to the client device to modify the functionality of the client device to comply with at least one policy in the profile.