Patent ID: 8341242

Claim:
A method for determining entitlement to content residing on a server comprising: associating a subscriber identifier with an account of a subscriber with a content access provider, wherein the subscriber identifier is associated with an account of the subscriber with a multi-channel video program distributor (MVPD) and wherein the account with the MVPD comprises a subscription level indicative of services provided by the MVPD to the subscriber; receiving a request from a subscriber computing device operated by the subscriber for access to a requested content provided by a content provider residing on a content access provider server; authenticating the subscriber at the content access provider server using credentials accepted by the content access provider to obtain the subscriber identifier; forwarding the content request and the subscriber identifier from the content access provider server to an entitlements server; determining by the entitlements server using the subscriber identifier the subscription level of the subscriber associated with the subscriber's account with the MVPD; determining by the entitlement server from the subscription level whether the subscriber is entitled to receive qualifying services of the content provider from the MVPD; and authorizing by the entitlements server access to the requested content on the content access provider server when the subscriber is entitled to receive qualifying services of the content provider from the MVPD.