Patent ID: 7145874

Claim:
A method of controlling a number of sessions established on a communication network, comprising: (a) inputting at least a first data packet transmitted on the communication network; (b) determining a new session corresponding to the at least the first data packet, wherein the new session is requested by at least a first user and wherein the at least the first user has an account authorizing the at least the first user to establish sessions on the communication network; (c) determining if a creation of the new session would exceed a permitted usage of the communication network, wherein the permitted usage corresponds to the account; (d) if the creation of the new session would exceed the permitted usage, preventing the new session from being created; and (e) if the creation of the new session would not exceed the permitted usage, allowing the new session to be created, wherein the operation (c) comprises: (c1) determining an elapsed time from when a previous session corresponding to the account is requested and when the new session is requested, wherein a probability that the creation of the new session would not exceed the permitted usage is directly related to the elapsed time.