1. A computer network comprising: a multiport network device to receive data packets to be transmitted using the computer network, the network device storing one or more authorized network descriptors; and a computer executing a software application, the software application generating data packets to be transmitted to the computer network through the network device, the software application registering a network rights descriptor with the network device, the software application inserting the network rights descriptor in each generated data packet; wherein the network device is configured to discard the data packet if the local network rights descriptor in the data packet does not match an authorized local network rights descriptor, to determine whether the local network rights descriptor should be stripped from the data packet if the local network rights descriptor in the data packet matches an authorized network rights descriptor, and to process the data packet after the determination, wherein the network rights descriptor comprises an application rights descriptor, a content rights descriptor, and an enterprise rights descriptor, wherein the application rights descriptor is used to include information regarding a software application, device, or network appliance generating the data packet.