Patent ID: 7266529

Claim:
A method for controlling execution of a computer program in accordance with usage rights, said method comprising; receiving, by a server repository, a request from a requestor repository to execute said computer program; determining, by a server repository, based on usage rights associated with said computer program, whether said request should be granted, said usage rights including a manner of use; granting said request of said requestor repository, by said server repository, if the result of said determining step is that said request should be granted; executing said computer program in accordance with said granted manner of use; and enforcing by said requestor repository said granted manner of use based on said usage rights; said manner of use included in said usage rights specifies how said associated computer program can be used; said request from a requestor repository specifies a particular manner of use; and said determining step further comprises determining whether said particular manner of use specified in said request corresponds to a manner of use included in said usage rights, wherein the said usage rights are created from a grammar including one or more symbols selected from a set of predetermined symbols to define a valid sequence of symbols to indicate, from a plurality of possible manners of use, the manner of use included in the usage rights.