Abstract: Techniques are provided for auditing and managing licenses for use of computer products. A license manager of a vendor receives an identifier of a computer product and a report of a set of licensed features enabled on the computer product. The license manager identifies a customer account associated with the identifier. The customer account includes a pool of entitlements acquired by the customer. The license manager compares the report with the entitlements in the pool, and with the customer's use of other computer products which draw entitlements from that pool, to generate a comparison result. An authorization decision of “in compliance” or “out of compliance” may be returned to the requesting computer product.

Abstract: Techniques are provided for managing multiple trusted relationships within a computer product licensing environment. In one example, a partner affiliated with a vendor and a customer of the vendor's products associate with each other. A vendor license manager monitors the license consumption of a customer using the vendor's products and periodically sends a consumption report to a license manager of the associated partner. If a customer's license consumption exceeds the bounds of a given license, the vendor license manager notifies the customer and the partner, and the partner assists the customer in maintaining compliance with the license.

Abstract: Improved methods and apparatus for imaging comprising a base, an outer dome mounted on said base, a central shaft intersecting said base, an imaging array including at least one imaging chip mounted on said shaft, means for focusing light onto said imaging chip having at least one pixel, at least one signal processing system, means for rotating said shaft, and means for transmitting data from said imaging chip to said signal processing system and from said signal processing system to an external receiver.