Patent ID: 7437457

Claim:
A method for regulating network access, the method comprising: receiving a request for network access for a user identity; identifying a type of connection being sought by the user identity over the network as being among at least one of a dial-up connection, a broadband connection, a wireless connection, and a private line connection; identifying the user identity for which the request is submitted; identifying one or more other user identities that are associated with the user identity; determining whether the other user identities that are identified as being associated with the user identity have network access contemporaneously with the received request; determining types of connections used to obtain the network access by the other user identities that are identified as being associated with the user identity and determined to have network access, the types of connections used by the other user identities being among at least one of a dial-up connection, a broadband connection, a wireless connection, and a private line connection; and determining whether to grant the user identity the network access requested based on the type of connection being sought by the user identity and based on the types of connections used by the other user identities that are identified as being associated with the user identity and determined to have network access, wherein determining whether to grant access comprises applying a set of login rules to determine whether to grant access, and wherein applying the set of login rules comprises: accessing login rules that indicate a first maximum number of concurrent logins using a first connection type and indicate a second maximum number of concurrent logins using a second connection type, the first connection type being different from the second connection type and the first maximum number being different from the second maximum number; determining that the type of connection being sought by the user comprises the first type of connection; and denying access conditioned on a number of concurrent logins of the other user identities that are using the first connection type to obtain network access being equal to the first maximum number.