Abstract: A license management system which includes a license management facility that determines whether usage of a licensed program is within the scope of the license. The license management system maintains a license unit value for each licensed program and a pointer to a table identifying an allocation unit value associated with each use of the licensed program. In response to a request to use a licensed program, the license management system respond with an indication as to whether the license unit value exceeds the allocation unit value associated with the use. Upon receiving the response, the operation of the licensed program depends upon policies established by the licensor.