Obtaining exclusive control of a printing device by deferring printing of print data in a print queue. To obtain control, the recipient performs a process which may include authentication of the recipient. Control may be obtained either before the recipient is authenticated or after a successful authentication process. After the recipient has obtained control, print data in the print queue is temporarily deferred from being printed. The recipient may then select a print job to print, including selecting a print job from among the print jobs deferred in the print queue, or selecting a file to print over a network, including the Internet or an intranet. Further, printing device resources utilized in printing data during the period of exclusive control may be tracked and correlated to the recipient who has control.