System and method for operating a licensing server

A system for operating a licensing server, communicating over a communications network with one or more programs residing on one or more remotely located devices, to distribute license data to a plurality of users to access one or more items of protected information at said remotely located devices, the system comprising:

• means for receiving, at a licensing server, an identifier previously unknown to the licensing server and associated with a request for access to one or more items of protected information, the request having been generated by a program at a remotely located device, the identifier being based at least in part on one or more characteristics of an entity to which access to the one or more items of protected information is linked, different such characteristics being usable to provide access to different ones of the one or more items of protected information;
• means for generating, at the licensing server, license data for providing access to the one or more items of protected information, using at least the identifier;
• and
• means for transmitting the license data over a communications network to a location accessible to the remotely located device.

A computer usable medium or media storing program code which, when executed on one or more computerized devices, causes the one or more computerized devices to execute a method for operating a licensing server, communicating over a communications network with one or more programs residing on one or more remotely located devices, to distribute license data to a plurality of users to access one or more items of protected information at remotely located devices, the method comprising:

• receiving, at a licensing server, an identifier previously unknown to the licensing server and associated with a request for access to one or more items of protected information, the request having been generated by a program at a remotely located device, the identifier being based at least in part on one or more characteristics of an entity to which access to the one or more items of protected information is linked, different such characteristics being usable to provide access to different ones of the one or more items of protected information;
• generating, at the licensing server, license data for providing access to the one or more items of protected information, using at least the identifier;
• and
• transmitting the license data to a location accessible to the remotely located device.