Patent ID: 7181761

Claim:
In a rights management system for protecting messages from unauthorized access, a method of providing an entity the ability to enforce conditions under which the entity's message server will accept messages by providing the message server with a message server use license to access the protected messages, while still controlling unauthorized access to the protected messages by also providing a publishing license, the method comprising acts of: receiving data including a message with a protected portion, the publishing license and the message server use license that is separate from the publishing license, the protected portion of the message controlled by a rights management server, the publishing license defining one or more principals' rights to the protected portion of the message, and the separate message server use license including an encrypted key that corresponds to an entity's message server; accessing the protected portion of the message at the entity's message server using the message server use license for performing operations on the protected portion in accordance with message policies defined by the entity; and making the message and the publishing license available to the one or more principals when the protected portion of the message conforms to the message policies defined by the entity.