Patent ID: 7975050

Claim:
A method of operating a conditional access network wherein providers distribute valuable contents over the network and end-users are allowed to access such valuable contents in function of individual access rights, wherein the valuable contents are made available to the end-users by way of a plurality of different conditional access systems, the method comprising the steps of: configuring a generic conditional access component having a basic functionality common to all conditional access systems and a plurality of particular conditional access systems, said plurality of particular conditional access systems being preloaded into a non-volatile memory of the component, but initially disabled; providing the generic conditional access component with the preloaded plurality of initially disabled particular conditional access systems to an end-user; inserting a smart card comprising a conditional access identification; identifying a particular preloaded conditional access system to be used by the conditional access component based on the conditional access identification; receiving by the conditional access component, by reception of an EMM, a license related to the identified particular preloaded conditional access system; and enabling the particular preloaded conditional access system by the conditional access component aiter successful verification of the license by the conditional access component.