Patent ID: 7266528

Claim:
A method for managing access to a digital work, the method for execution by a reconciling node, the method comprising: receiving at the reconciling node via a network a plurality of first reports, each first report being provided in response to a respective transaction that provided the digital work from a content providing node to a content requesting node, each first report comprising a respective transaction identifier and a respective first tracking value, each transaction being conducted in response to a respective request originated by the content requesting node; receiving at the reconciling node via the network a plurality of second reports, each second report originating from a content managing node in response to supplying by the content managing node information to validate the respective request, each second report comprising a respective value, a respective payee identifier, and a respective second tracking value; identifying at the reconciling node a particular first report and a particular second report, wherein the particular reports have corresponding tracking values; comparing at the reconciling node the respective transaction identifier of the particular first report and the respective value of the particular second report; transmitting at the reconciling node onto the network a message enabling payment in accordance with the comparison; receiving via the network a plurality of third reports, each third report comprising indicia of a respective debit in accordance with a respective transaction; and detecting the occurrence of an invalid transaction wherein for the invalid transaction, at least one of the first report, the second report, and the third report are not timely received.