Patent ID: 7296235

Claim:
A computer readable medium having stored therein computer implementable instructions for executing a policy component, said policy component comprising: a first policy decision point for evaluating and enforcing pre-defined policies used to control access to a resource; and a plurality of interfaces for extending the pre-defined policies to obtain customized policies for controlling access to the resource, wherein each of said customized policies comprises: a rule that references the resource and comprises at least one action associated with the resource, a condition that comprises a constraint on the at least one action, a subject that defines a collection of users to whom each of the customized policies apply, and a referral that comprises an identification of a second policy decision point to which the evaluation of each of the customized policies is to be delegated, and wherein said policy component is operable to receive user defined customized policies and integrate said user defined customized policies into said second policy decision point, wherein the first policy decision point is different from the second policy decision point, and wherein the first policy decision point and the second policy decision point each comprise at least one selected from a group consisting of a policy product and an organization.