Temporally controlling access to software assets on user devices

摘要

The availability of software assets on electronic devices, such as mobile devices of users, is restricted based on the time as determined by a managing server. An application that runs on the electronic devices communicates with the server to obtain information regarding which software assets are permitted to be accessed, and restricts user access accordingly. The server may use a clock, in combination with administrator-generated access restriction policies, to determine which software assets are to be made available on each electronic device at particular points in time.

主权项

1. A system for limiting availability of software assets on electronic devices comprising:
a server that comprises computer storage that stores software assets and availability times for assets to be accessed on an electronic device, said server comprising a processor coupled to the computer storage, and comprising or having access to a clock that maintains time, said clock being external to the electronic device, the server configured to transmit copies of the assets, and information regarding the availability times, to the electronic device; and an application that runs on the electronic device remotely from the server, wherein the application instructs the electronic device to at least:
display on the electronic device a list of copies of assets that, based on a current time and on the information regarding the availability times, are currently available via the application, wherein at least one of said assets is present on the electronic device and at least another of said assets is not present on the electronic device;receive a selection from the list of an asset not present on the electronic device;retrieve a copy of the selected asset from the server;permit access to the copies of assets present on the electronic device, including the retrieved copy of the selected asset, when a current time as determined by the clock is within the availability time for the respective asset; anddeny access to the copies of the assets present on the electronic device when the current time as determined by the clock is outside the availability time for the respective asset; wherein the electronic device comprises a timer, and wherein the application is further configured to recognize an absence of a connection between the device and the server and, as a result of said absence:
determine an alternate current time from the timer;permit access to the copies of the assets when the alternate current time as determined from the timer is within the corresponding availability time; anddeny access to the copies of the assets when the alternate current time as determined from the timer is outside the corresponding availability time.