Patent ID: 6298346
Filing Date: 2001-10-02
Classification: G06Q,Y10S

Abstract:
A method of supporting a cooperative activity in which an activity is performed by cooperation over a network among a plurality of participants each comprising a terminal connected to the network, said method comprising:a step of assigning access control information specifying a level of an allowable access operation for a respective one of a plurality of predetermined relationships between a resource and a requesting participant with respect to each of the resources;a step of entering one of a group of access requests from a requesting participant with a respective access level to one of the resources, the group of access requests including an access request to the shared data, a request for participating in the cooperative activity, or a request for executing a program as an access request for the program; anda decision step of deciding whether to allow or refuse the request entered in said entering step as the access request for the one resource, wherein said decision step allows the request if the respective access level is not higher than the level specified in the access control information assigned to the relationship between the one resource and the requesting participant.