Patent ID: 7734927

Claim:
A method for automatically authorizing an action, the method comprising the steps of: receiving at an authorizing agent, a request message for authorizing the action, the request received from a remote first subscriber, the first subscriber in network communication with the authorizing software agent, the request comprising a requested action and first subscriber identifying information, the authorizing agent comprising an automated software agent; based on the received request message, determining a first group of subscribers to be polled, the first group of subscribers in network communication with the authorizing agent, wherein said subscribers are subscribers to a pub/sub service; creating a polling information message, the polling information message comprising attributes of the requested action; initiating a polling period by transmitting the polling information message to the first group of subscribers; then during the polling period, receiving one or more polling responses from one or more subscribers of the first group of subscribers, the polling responses comprising voting information; then determining that the polling period is complete; comparing voting information received during the polling period with predetermined authorization rules to determine that authorization is granted; and a software agent performing the action when it is determined that authorization is granted.