Patent ID: 8261336

Claim:
A method of providing access to at least a portion of a web site, comprising: receiving an identifier of a user over a network from a device; determining whether a digital certificate is associated with the device; if the determination is that no digital certificate is associated with the device: requesting a preregistered indicia of the user's authenticity; receiving the indicia of authenticity; responsive to the indicia of authenticity: associating a digital certificate with the device, wherein the digital certificate is uniquely associated with the device and the device is uniquely associated with the digital certificate; associating the user with the digital certificate, the digital certificate associated with the device thereby being uniquely associated with the user; and providing access to the web site; if the determination is that a digital certificate is associated with the device, further determining whether the digital certificate associated with the device is associated with the user; if the further determination is that the digital certificate associated with the device is associated with the user, providing access to the web site; if the further determination is that the digital certificate associated with the device is not associated with the user: requesting a preregistered indicia of the user's authenticity; receiving the indicia of authenticity; responsive to the indicia of authenticity: associating the user with the digital certificate associated with the device, the digital certificate associated with the device thereby being associated with a plurality of users; and providing access to the web site; wherein access to the web site is provided only when the same digital certificate is both associated with the device and associated with the user; and wherein the user is associated with the digital certificate responsive to the preregistered indicia of authenticity.