Patent ID: 8528055

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, at a first network device, a first message comprising at least a received indication of a management key block and a received indication of an authorization table from a second network device, wherein the management key block is a block of cryptographic key data, wherein the authorization table indicates devices authorized to share protected content on a network associated with the first network device and the second network device; validating the received indication of the management key block and the received indication of the authorization table, wherein said validating the received indication of the management key block comprises generating an indication of the management key block and comparing the generated indication of the management key block with the received indication of the management key block, wherein said validating the received indication of the authorization table comprises generating an indication of the authorization table and comparing the generated indication of the authorization table with the received indication of the authorization table, generating a response to the first message received from the second network device based on said validating the received indication of the management key block and the received indication of the authorization table; transmitting, via a communication network to the second network device, the response to the first message; storing, at the first network device, the generated indication of the management key block, the generated indication of the authorization table, and the response; receiving, at the first network device, a second message comprising at least a second received indication of the management key block and a second received indication of the authorization table from the second network device; determining that the second received indication of the management key block matches the stored indication of the management key block and that the second received indication of the authorization table matches the stored indication of the authorization table; and communicating with the second network device in accordance with the stored response associated with the first message based, at least in part, on said determining that the second received indication of the management key block matches the stored indication of the management key block and that the second received indication of the authorization table matches the stored indication of the authorization table.