System and method for controlling terminal application usage through subscriber-application association

摘要

A system and method for authorizing operation of an application on a terminal in a network. An application is initiated on the terminal by a requesting user. A user data segment locally available at the terminal includes data that is unique to the requesting user, and is searched for an application identifier corresponding to the application initiated by the user. If the application identifier is found not to be associated with the local user data segment, a remotely stored user data segment available on the network is searched to determine if it includes the application identifier. If the application identifier is located in the remotely stored user data segment, the local user data segment on the terminal is updated with the application identifier, and execution of the application is enabled for use by the requesting user. Otherwise, execution of the application is prohibited until the user complies with access rules, such as providing payment for permission to execute the application.