Patent ID: 6948183

Claim:
A security method for controlling access to a function of a digital television receiver, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a software application at the receiver; said software application being executable in response to an execution command; (b) receiving data at the receiver from a headend, said data defining a condition of the receiver under which access to the receiver function by the software application is permitted; (c) receiving information at the receiver from the headend, said information defining a security policy for said software application which contains a set of permissions for said software application; (d) providing a control signal for requesting access to the receiver function upon execution of said software application; (e) in response to said control signal, determining whether the security policy for the software application contains a permission for the software application to access the receiver function; (f) if said security policy contains said permission: (i) determining whether said condition of the receiver is met by data indicative of a current state of the receiver; (ii) allowing the software application to access the receiver function if the condition is met; and (iii) preventing the software application from accessing the receiver function if the condition is not met; and (g) if said security policy does not contain said permission, preventing the software application from accessing the receiver function; wherein said condition of the receiver indicates a user state of the receiver; and said user state comprises comprising at least one of: user preferences, a user password, and a user identifier.