Patent ID: 7296283

Claim:
In a cable data delivery network for delivering digital data to a host location upon a subscriber initiated request, an apparatus for authenticating that the subscriber is authorized to use said network, said apparatus comprising: a network manager including at least one database of authorized users and authorized unique identifiers for each of a plurality of authorized data communication devices and a validation agent, said validation agent further comprising: a logic to authorize the subscriber to access a first communications path by comparing first subscriber authentication information received from a data communication device associated with the host location with at least part of the at least one database comprising the authorized users, the first communications path providing at least a portion of connectivity between the host location and a head end of the cable data delivery network; and logic to authorize the subscriber to access a second communications path, responsive to the first communications path authorization, by comparing a unique identifier of the data communication device that is received from the data communication device with at least part of the at least one database comprising the authorized unique identifiers for each of the plurality of data communication devices, the second communications path providing at least a portion of connectivity between the host location and the head end of the cable data delivery network, wherein the second communications oath is uni-directional.