Patent ID: 7665086
Filing Date: 2010-02-16
Classification: G06F,G06Q

Abstract:
1. A method for controlling access to or use of software applications comprising the steps of: storing information concerning a set of software applications, wherein one or more of said software applications are open source software applications; defining filter criteria relating to one of access to and use of said software applications, said filter criteria includes: a) one or more of license parameters that identify license information associated with said software applications, b) software use parameters that define allowable uses of said software applications, and c) user parameters that identify or classify users associated with a client entity, said filter criteria governing a requestor's right to access or use of said software applications separate from any rights granted by providers of said software applications; receiving a request from said requestor for one of access to and use of one or more identified software applications; and operating a computer based tool to process said request in accordance with said filter criteria and provide an output responsive to said request, wherein said step of operating comprises accessing said stored information and said filter criteria, wherein said output provides an indication to said requestor regarding one of access to and use of said identified software applications, and wherein said indication specifies a status for said request from multiple filter levels including at least some of approval of said request, disapproval of said request, and limitations regarding said request.