Abstract: A method and a corresponding apparatus (200) for metering usage of software products on a computer are proposed. The solution of the invention is based on the idea of associating (225) each product with an installation signature (indicative of the installation of the product on the computer) and with a running signature (indicative of the running of the product on the computer). The products that are installed on the computer are asynchronously determined (235) according to their installation signatures; in this way, any ambiguities (for example, caused by different versions and/or configurations of a product sharing the same executable modules) can be resolved in advance. Therefore, when at run-time the invocation of an executable module is detected (245) it is possible to use only the running signatures to identify the corresponding product uniquely (without the need of additional information about the executable module, such as its size).

Abstract: A method (300) and system for controlling use of software programs on a client workstation; the programs (such as an operating system or a network stack) are started before completion of a bootstrap process. Each program requests (311) an execution authorisation to a system agent of a licensing management system, which grants (318-324) the authorisation according to a verification of a (simplified) local license certificate for the program stored on the client workstation before completion of the bootstrap. A full-function agent of the licensing management system revises (342-351) the granted authorisation according to a verification of a license certificate stored on a server workstation after completion of the bootstrap. Preferably, an execution environment of the programs (such as a power of the CPU on the client workstation) is monitored (333) in order to revise (336,360-384) compliance of the conditions of use of the programs with the respective license certificates dynamically.