Claims
- 1. A method for controlling consumption of a distributed network service in accordance with rights expression information associated with said distributed network service and specifying a manner of use of said distributed network service, said method comprising:
determining said rights expression information associated with said distributed network service, said rights expression information indicating a manner of use of said distributed network service; and controlling consumption of said distributed network service based on said rights expression information.
- 2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:
transmitting said rights expression information from a client to a provider of said distributed network service.
- 3. The method as recited in claim 2, further comprising:
receiving said rights expression information at said client from a rights expression information issuing service.
- 4. The method as recited in claim 3, further comprising:
receiving a right to issue said rights expression information at said rights expression information issuing service from a business network associated with said rights expression information issuing service.
- 5. The method as recited in claim 3, further comprising:
interpreting said rights expression information transmitted from said client to said provider at a rights expression information interpretation service to determine if said provider has allowed access to said distributed network service.
- 6. The method as recited in claim 5, further comprising:
interpreting said rights expression information transmitted from said client to said provider based on state data associated with said rights expression information and received from a state tracking service.
- 7. The method as recited in claim 6, further comprising:
receiving at least a portion of said state data at said state tracking service from said provider.
- 8. The method as recited in claim 6, further comprising:
configuring said rights expression information issuing service, said rights expression information interpretation service, and said state tracking service as a middle layer provided between a trust authority service and said service provider and said client, wherein said trust authority service manages trust relationships between said rights expression information issuing service, said rights expression information interpretation service, and said state tracking service.
- 9. The method as recited in claim 6, further comprising:
configuring said rights expression information issuing service, said rights expression information interpretation service, and said state tracking service as specialized services provided by a specialized service provider provided between a trust authority service and said service provider and said client, wherein said trust authority service manages trust relationships between said rights expression information issuing service, said rights expression information interpretation service, and said state tracking service.
- 10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein said trust authority service attests to information included in a trust certificate associated with said rights expression information.
- 11. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:
expressing said rights expression information using a rights expression language.
- 12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein said rights expression language includes a grammar-based rights expression language.
- 13. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein said grammar-based rights expression language includes eXtensible rights Markup Language (XrML).
- 14. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said step of controlling access, comprises:
authorizing access to said distributed network service based on said rights expression information.
- 15. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:
specifying in said rights expression information identification information for said distributed network service.
- 16. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:
specifying in said rights expression information identification information for a service that is associated with said distributed network service.
- 17. A computer system for controlling consumption of a distributed network service in accordance with rights expression information associated with said distributed network service and specifying a manner of use of said distributed network service, said system comprising:
a distributed network services provider configured to provide said distributed network service; a client of said provider configured to consume said distributed network service; a license issuing server configured to determine said rights expression information associated with said distributed network service, said rights expression information indicating a manner of use of said distributed network service; and a license interpretation server configured to control consumption of said distributed network service based on said rights expression information.
- 18. A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions for controlling consumption of a distributed network service in accordance with rights expression information associated with said distributed network service and specifying a manner of use of said distributed network service, the one or more sequences of one or more instructions including instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the following steps:
determining said rights expression information associated with said distributed network service, said rights expression information indicating a manner of use of said distributed network service; and controlling consumption of said distributed network service based on said rights expression information.
- 19. A system for controlling consumption of a distributed network service in accordance with rights expression information associated with said distributed network service and specifying a manner of use of said distributed network service, said system comprising:
means for determining said rights expression information associated with said distributed network service, said rights expression information indicating a manner of use of said distributed network service; and means for controlling consumption of said distributed network service based on said rights expression information.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED DOCUMENTS
[0001] The present invention claims benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to commonly assigned, co-pending, U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/359,667 of Lao et al., entitled “XrML FRAMEWORK FOR WEB SERVICES,” filed on Feb. 27, 2002, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. This application is a Continuation-In-Part (CIP) of commonly assigned, co-pending, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/159,272 of Wang et al., entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISTRIBUTING ENFORCEABLE PROPERTY RIGHTS,” filed on Jun. 3, 2002, which claims benefit of priority to commonly assigned U.S. Provisional Patent Applications Serial Nos. 60/331,625, filed on Nov. 20, 2001, 60/296,117, filed on Jun. 7, 2001, 60/296,118, filed on Jun. 7, 2001, and 60/296,113, filed on Jun. 7, 2001, and which is Continuation-In-Part (CIP) of commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/046,695, filed on Jan. 17, 2002, which claims benefit of priority to commonly assigned U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/261,753, filed on Jan. 17, 2001, the entire disclosures of all of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60359667 |
Feb 2002 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (2)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10159272 |
Jun 2002 |
US |
Child |
10374729 |
Feb 2003 |
US |
Parent |
10046695 |
Jan 2002 |
US |
Child |
10159272 |
Jun 2002 |
US |