Access, monitoring, and control of appliances via a media processing system

A method of providing access, monitoring, and control of appliances via a communication network, the method comprising:

• identifying by a first system, at a first location, at least one home appliance communicatively coupled to a second system, the second system at a remote second location;
• establishing a communication link between the first system and the at least one home appliance via the communication network;
• verifying authorization fur control of the at least one home appliance by the first system;
• communicating, from the first system, at least one command to the at least one home appliance via the communication network, if the verifying is successful;
• refraining from communicating at least one command to the at least one home appliance via the communication network, if the verifying is not successful;
• receiving, at the first system, at least one response from the at least one home appliancc, if a command was communicated;
• and
• wherein commands are sent from the first location to the at least one home appliance at the second location. via a wide area communication network.