Patent ID: 7657746

Claim:
A system employing an access control language that uses logic forms including variables and prerequisite clauses, comprising: a server machine linked to at least one resource and an associated use policy of the resource, the use policy containing logic forms including variables and prerequisite clauses that have to be proved correctly for accessing the resource; one or more entities configured to send credential statements and additional assertions; wherein at least one of the one or more entities is a client machine for requesting access to the resource; wherein the additional assertions contain instructions describing how to put the credential statements together to construct at least a partial proof to satisfy the use policy of the requested resource and thereby allow the server machine to grant the client machine access to the requested resource; wherein the server machine is configured to receive at least one credential statement concerning the client machine from a supplier selected from a group consisting of the client machine and at least one auxiliary client; and wherein the at least one credential statement is stored at a location other than the supplier, and the supplier is configured to reference the at least one credential statement while supplying the at least one credential statement to the server machine.