Patent ID: 8191160

Claim:
A method for auditing unauthorized signal usage in a subscriber content delivery network, the method comprising the steps of: a) obtaining an indicator relating to accessibility in respect of a receiver capable of receiving and processing signals containing subscriber content in the form of a predetermined service offering of said network for consumption by a subscriber over said network and through said receiver, wherein said indicator relating to accessibility is indicative of whether said predetermined service offering is physically accessible to said receiver regardless of whether said predetermined service offering is authorized to be made available to said receiver b) obtaining an indicator relating to authorization for said pre-determined service offering, wherein said indicator relating to authorization is indicative of whether said predetermined service offering is authorized to be made available to said receiver; c) comparing said obtained indicator relating to accessibility to said obtained indicator relating to authorization; d) determining whether said indicator relating to accessibility is inconsistent with said indicator relating to authorization to thereby ascertain that the receiver is capable of engaging in unauthorized usage in respect of said predetermined service offering; and e) wherein at least one of said indicator relating to accessibility and said indicator relating to authorization is not used by a conditional access system associated with the subscriber content delivery network, and wherein the conditional access system controls subscriber access to said predetermined service offering of said content delivery network.