Patent ID: 7062468

Claim:
A method for distributing digital licenses over a computer network from a centralized database for a digital product comprising the steps of: a) receiving a request, via computer network, for product registration from a vendor, said request including a product name and a vendor identifier; b) assigning a product identifier and an encryption key to said product and forwarding registration to vendor, said registration including a product identifier, said key and said vendor identifier; c) receiving a request, via computer network, from a user for a user license, said request including a user name and payment information; d) assigning a user identifier to said user and forwarding a user license, via the computer network, to said user, said license including said user identifier; e) receiving a request, via computer network, for a product license from said user to use said product, said request including said user identifier and said product identifier; f) issuing a product license, via computer network, to said user, said product license including a user identifier, the product identifier and a decryption key that mates with said encryption key; and g) storing in a relational database the vendor records, product records, user records and product license records, with the product record linked to the vendor record via the vendor identifier, and with each product license linked to a user record via the user identifier.