Patent ID: 7664822

Claim:
A method for managing communication policy in a network, the method comprising: receiving a first message from a client device over a network, the client device associated with a user having at least two different screen names, each of the screen names being an alias of the user, the first message being generated according to a first instant messaging protocol, the first message being associated with a first one of the at least two screen names; determining a unique name of the user in response to receiving the first message, said determining comprising interrogating a registry of the client device; selecting a policy rule for controlling the user's usage of instant messaging within an enterprise network based at least partly on the user's unique name, wherein the policy rule comprises a rule for restricting the user from sending or receiving a predefined number of messages within a given time period; applying the policy rule to the first message; receiving a second message from the client device, the second message being generated according to a second instant messaging protocol different than the first instant messaging protocol, the second message being associated with a second one of the at least two screen names, the second screen name being different than the first screen name; determining the user's unique name in response to receiving the second message; and applying the policy rule to the second message, such that the same policy rule is applied to instant message communications by the user whether the user uses the first or second screen name.