Method and system to support dynamic rights and resources sharing

Abstract

The invention relates to method for deriving a sub-right from a right, the right comprising a plurality of components, each of which specifies an aspect of the right. A component may be, for example, a principal, an action, a resource, and a condition. The invention also relates to a method for integrating a first right with a second right. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method of sharing rights by deriving a sub-right from a right, allowing use of the sub-right, and integrating the sub-right with the right. In addition, the invention relates to a system to support rights sharing by enabling the derivation of a sub-right from a right, the right comprising plural components each of which specifies an aspect of the right, the system comprising a receiving module for receiving a sub-right, the sub-right comprising plural components each of which specifies an aspect of the sub-right, and a confirmation module for confirming that the values of the components of the sub-right can be derived from the values of the corresponding components of the right. The invention further relates to a method for deriving a sub-right from a pool of rights granted by a grantor to a grantee for controlling use of resources within a computing environment, the computing environment having a mechanism for enforcing rights within the environment to control use of resources in accordance with the rights.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus for sharing rights with an authorized computing device, the apparatus comprising:
 one or more processors; and   one or more memories operatively coupled to at least one of the one or more processors and having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, cause at least one of the one or more processors to:
 interpret a group license; 
 retrieve a current state of a right associated with the group license; 
 create a shared license based the current state of the right associated with the group license; and 
 enable transmission of the shared license to the authorized computing device. 
   
     
     
         2 . A computer-implemented method executed by one or more computing devices for sharing rights with an authorized computing device, the method comprising:
 interpreting, by at least one of the one or more computing devices, a group license;   retrieving, by at least one of the one or more computing devices, a current state of a right associated with the group license;   creating, by at least one of the one or more computing devices, a shared license based the current state of the right associated with the group license; and   transmitting, by at least one of the one or more computing devices, the shared license to the authorized computing device.   
     
     
         3 . At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by one or more computing devices, cause at least one of the one or more computing devices to:
 interpret a group license;   retrieve a current state of a right associated with the group license;   create a shared license based the current state of the right associated with the group license; and   transmit the shared license to the authorized computing device.