Patent ID: 8904494

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving from a site coupled to a network a request sent via the network to authorize a user seeking access to the site, the request being received at a service coupled to the network and remote from the site and the user; determining whether the user has previously registered with the service; if the user is determined to have been previously registered with the service, the service identifying an authorizing agent associated with the user from a database coupled to the service; and sending a message to the identified authorizing agent that requests that the authorizing agent authorize the user to access the site; if the user is determined not to have been previously registered with the service, the service checking the database to determine whether at least one authorizing agent is associated with the user in the database; displaying, via the network, to the user a list of one or more authorizing agents that are determined to be associated with the user; permitting the user to select one of the authorizing agents from the list; and sending a message to the selected authorizing agent that requests that the authorizing agent authorize the user to access the site; if the user does not select any authorizing agent from the list, the service querying the user, via the network for a name of the user, address information associated with an authorizing agent that is authorized to authorize the user to access the site, and for an answer to a security question; querying the authorizing agent to confirm that the user is associated with the authorizing agent and to provide an answer to the security question; obtaining credit card information of the authorizing agent; determining whether the answer provided by the authorizing agent matches the answer provided by the user; and determining whether the credit card information corresponds to at least a portion of the address information provided by the user; receiving an authorizing message from the authorizing agent indicating whether the authorizing agent authorizes the user to access the site; storing a record in the database indicating whether the authorizing agent authorized the user to access the site; and sending the site, via the network, a message indicating whether the authorizing agent authorized the user to access the site.