Patent ID: 7406521

Claim:
A computer readable storage medium storing a computer program thereon executable by a computer processor to manage media access in a controlled media system, comprising: computer readable code to communicate usage reports to a system control unit from one or more local control units, the usage reports based on usage information from local usage records associated with one or more user devices controlled by each local control unit, wherein each user device includes a plurality of operating modes including an entertainment mode and a study mode, and wherein each local control unit is configured to maintain separate user accounts associated with each operating mode; computer readable code to update global usage records based on the usage reports, the global usage records associating device usage with user accounts; computer readable code to update the separate user accounts at each local control unit based on whether the user device is operating in the entertainment mode or the study mode; computer readable code to transmit the updated global usage records to each local control unit; and computer readable code to update the local usage records responsive to receipt of the updated global usage records and cause each local control unit to selectively enable and disable each user device based on the updated local usage records, and, when updated global usage records are not received to cause each local control unit to selectively enable and disable each user device based on the local usage records.