Authenticating a third party client system prior to providing Internet
access via an Internet access point. In a distributed computing system
including an Internet access point, an authentication service, and a
third party client system, an authentication service receives an
authorization request from a third party client system. The authorization
request is initiated in response to a single action being performed by a
user of the third party client system. The user is not required to
manually submit any identification information. The authorization request
includes a unique client identifier for identifying the third party
client system. The method also includes verifying that the third party
client system associated with the unique client identifier is authorized
to access the Internet via the Internet access point. If the third party
client system is authorized to access the Internet, Internet access is
provided to the third party client system.