Practical techniques for reducing unsolicited electronic messages by identifying sender's addresses

• US 20030233418A1
• Filed: 06/18/2002
• Published: 12/18/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AOL LLC (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Goldman, Phillip Y.
• Granted Patent: US 7,516,182 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/48 Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases

Abstract

Systems and methods for managing data associated with incoming electronic messages including filtering incoming electronic messages according to the sender'"'"'s address. In addition, a request/response technique categorizes sender'"'"'s addresses as authorized, unauthorized, or unconfirmed, which categorizations are stored in associated data structure. The filtering processes and the categorization techniques can be used in connection with any of various methods for populating the data structures that identify sender'"'"'s addresses associated with authorized and unauthorized senders. In this manner, recipients can effectively cause unsolicited electronic messages to be filtered out. Moreover, the processes generally do not require the recipient to view electronic messages and make decisions regarding whether the senders are to be categorized as unauthorized; rather, the timeliness and accuracy of the senders'"'"' responses determine whether specified senders are authorized or unauthorized.

Claims

1. In a computer system for managing incoming electronic messages for a recipient, a method for categorizing sender'"'"'s addresses for purposes of determining whether the sender'"'"'s addresses are authorized for sending electronic messages to the recipient, comprising the acts of:

receiving an incoming electronic message that includes a sender'"'"'s address;

categorizing the sender'"'"'s address as being authorized for sending electronic messages to the recipient, unauthorized for sending electronic messages to the recipient, or unconfirmed as to whether the sender'"'"'s address is authorized or unauthorized;

after the act of categorizing the sender'"'"'s address, reevaluating the category of the sender'"'"'s address by periodically sending a request to the sender'"'"'s address, wherein the request is to be answered only by receiving input from a person; and

recategorizing the sender'"'"'s address as being authorized, unauthorized, or unconfirmed based on a response to the request or lack thereof.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of categorizing the sender'"'"'s address further comprises the acts of:

sending a request to the sender'"'"'s address, wherein the request is to be answered only by receiving input from a person;

categorizing the sender'"'"'s address as being authorized if a correct response is received within a predetermined period of time;

categorizing the sender'"'"'s address as being unauthorized if an incorrect response is received within a predetermined period of time;

categorizing the sender'"'"'s address as being unconfirmed if no response to the request is received within a predetermined period of time; and

according to the categorization of the sender'"'"'s address, modifying a data structure in which the categorization of sender'"'"'s addresses is maintained.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of reevaluating the category of the sender'"'"'s address further comprises the act of accessing a data structure in which the categorization of sender'"'"'s address is maintained to retrieve the sender'"'"'s address.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of reevaluating the category of the sender'"'"'s address is performed at a predetermined time after the act of categorizing the sender'"'"'s address.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of recategorizing the sender'"'"'s address as being authorized, unauthorized, or unconfirmed comprises the acts of:

recategorizing the sender'"'"'s address as being authorized if a correct response is received within a predetermined period of time;

recategorizing the sender'"'"'s address as being unauthorized if an incorrect response is received within a predetermined period of time;

recategorizing the sender'"'"'s address as being unconfirmed if no response to the request is received within a predetermined period of time; and

according to the recategorization of the sender'"'"'s address, modifying a data structure in which the categorization of sender'"'"'s addresses is maintained.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of reevaluating the category of the sender'"'"'s address is initiated by the receipt of another incoming electronic message.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of reevaluating the category of the sender'"'"'s address is automatically initiated after a predetermined time interval.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of reevaluating the category of the sender'"'"'s address is initiated by the recipient.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of categorizing the sender'"'"'s address comprises the act of sending a request to the sender'"'"'s address, wherein a correct response to the request is to include a digital certificate verifying the identify of the sender.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of categorizing the sender'"'"'s address comprises the act of sending a request to the sender'"'"'s address, wherein a correct response to the request is to include payment from the sender.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of categorizing the sender'"'"'s address comprises the act of sending a request to the sender'"'"'s address, wherein a correct response to the request is to be made by the sender answering one or more questions at a web site.

12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of categorizing the sender'"'"'s address is performed by a client computer associated with the recipient.

13. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the act of categorizing the sender'"'"'s address is performed by a server computer associated with a client computer of the recipient.

14. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the acts of tracking a source of information that has been used to categorize the sender'"'"'s address for later use in determining whether the categorization of the sender'"'"'s address can be modified.

15. In a computer system for managing incoming electronic messages for a recipient, a method for categorizing sender'"'"'s addresses for purposes of determining whether the sender'"'"'s addresses are authorized for sending electronic messages to the recipient, comprising the acts of:

receiving incoming electronic messages that include sender'"'"'s addresses;

categorizing each of the sender'"'"'s addresses as being authorized for sending electronic messages to the recipient, unauthorized for sending electronic messages to the recipient, or unconfirmed as to whether the sender'"'"'s address is categorized as authorized or unconfirmed, at least one of the sender'"'"'s addresses being categorized as unconfirmed; and

after the act of categorizing, recategorizing said at least one of the sender'"'"'s addresses from being unconfirmed to either being authorized or unauthorized based on predetermined criteria.

16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the act of categorizing the sender'"'"'s addresses further comprises the acts of:

sending a request to the sender'"'"'s address, wherein the request is to be answered only by receiving input from a person;

categorizing the sender'"'"'s address as being authorized if a correct response is received within a predetermined period of time;

categorizing the sender'"'"'s address as being unauthorized if an incorrect response is received within a predetermined period of time;

categorizing the sender'"'"'s address as being unconfirmed if no response to the request is received within a predetermined period of time; and

according to the categorization of the sender'"'"'s address, modifying a data structure in which the categorization of sender'"'"'s addresses is maintained.

17. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the act of periodically recategorizing said at least one of the sender'"'"'s addresses further comprises the act of the act of accessing a data structure in which the categorization of sender'"'"'s address is maintained to retrieve said at least one of the sender'"'"'s addresses.

18. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the act of periodically recategorizing said at least one of the sender'"'"'s addresses is performed at a predetermined time after the act of categorizing each of the sender'"'"'s addresses.

19. The method as recited in claim 18, further comprising the act of sending an electronic message associated with the sender'"'"'s address that has been recategorized as unauthorized to a trash bin.

20. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the act of recategorizing said at least one of the sender'"'"'s addresses comprises recategorizing an unconfirmed sender'"'"'s address as being unauthorized for sending electronic messages to the recipient after a specified period of time has elapsed since the particular sender'"'"'s address having been categorized as being unconfirmed.

21. In a computer system for managing incoming electronic messages for a recipient, a method for categorizing sender'"'"'s addresses for purposes of determining whether the sender'"'"'s addresses are authorized for sending electronic messages to the recipient, comprising the acts of:

accessing information that identifies individuals with whom the recipient has corresponded, the information including addresses from which the individuals can send electronic messages;

processing the information to categorize the addresses from which the individuals can send electronic messages as being authorized for sending electronic messages to the recipient or unauthorized for sending electronic messages to the recipient; and

receiving an incoming electronic message from one of the addresses and filtering the incoming electronic message according to the categorization thereof.

22. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein the information that identifies individuals comprises a contacts list maintained for the recipient.

23. The method as recited in claim 22, wherein the act of processing the information comprises automatically categorizing the addresses of the individuals identified by the contacts list as being authorized.

24. The method as recited in claim 22, wherein the act of processing the information comprises enabling the recipient to determine whether to categorize the addresses of the individuals identified by the contacts list as being authorized or unauthorized.

25. The method as recited in claim 24, wherein the information that identifies individuals comprises electronic messages that have been previously received from the individuals, wherein the act of processing the information comprises the acts of:

identifying an action that has been previously performed with respect to at least one of the electronic messages; and

based on the identified action, determining how to categorize the address of the at least one of the electronic messages.

26. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein the information that identified individuals comprises electronic messages that have been previously sent to the individuals by the recipient, wherein the electronic messages include the addresses of the individuals.

27. The method as recited in claim 26, wherein the act of processing the information comprises automatically categorizing as being authorized the addresses of the individuals to whom the electronic messages have been previously sent.

28. The method as recited in claim 26 wherein the act of processing the information comprises enabling the recipient to determine whether to categorize as being authorized or unauthorized the addresses of the individuals to whom the electronic messages have been previously sent.

29. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein the act of filtering an incoming message comprises the acts of:

determining whether the address of the incoming electronic message is categorized as being authorized or unauthorized; and

segregating the incoming electronic message from other electronic messages having addresses with a categorization different from that of the address of the incoming electronic message.

30. The method as recited in claim 21, wherein the act of filtering an incoming message comprises the acts of:

determining whether the address of the incoming electronic message is categorized as being authorized or unauthorized; and

using a visual mechanism to represent the categorization of the address of the incoming electronic message.

31. In a computer system for managing incoming electronic messages for a user, a method for managing a data structure that is used to filter incoming electronic messages comprising the acts of:

sending an outgoing electronic message from the user to a recipient of the outgoing electronic message, the electronic message containing the recipient'"'"'s address;

modifying the data structure associated with the system such that the address of the recipient is categorized as being authorized for sending electronic messages to the user;

receiving an incoming electronic message that includes a sender'"'"'s address that is the same as the recipient'"'"'s address, wherein incoming electronic messages are filtered using the data structure; and

based on the recipient'"'"'s address being categorized as authorized, permitting the incoming electronic message to be received by the user.

32. The method as recited in claim 31, further comprising the act of determining whether the user wants the recipient'"'"'s address associated with the outgoing electronic message to be categorized as authorized before sending the outgoing electronic message.

33. The method as recited in claim 31, further comprising the acts of:

identifying addresses of recipients of other sent electronic messages that have been previously sent by the user and stored in an outbox associated with the user; and

categorizing the addresses of the recipients of the other sent electronic messages as being authorized for sending electronic messages to the user.

34. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the act of modifying the data structure associated with the system is performed in response to determining that the recipient has been addressed in a “

to”

field of the outgoing electronic message.

35. The method as recited in claim 34, further comprising the acts of:

sending another outgoing electronic message from the user to another recipient of the outgoing electronic message, the electronic message containing the recipient'"'"'s address in a carbon copy field of the outgoing electronic message;

modifying the data structure associated with the system such that the address of the other recipient is categorized as being authorized for sending electronic messages to the user only after prompting the user to determine whether to categorize the other recipient as being authorized.

36. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the act of modifying the data structure associated with the system is performed in response to determining that the recipient has been addressed in a blind carbon copy field of the outgoing electronic message.

37. In a network system for managing electronic messages for users, the network having multiple computers that receive incoming electronic messages, a method for managing a data structure that is used to filter incoming electronic messages, comprising the acts of:

receiving an incoming electronic message that includes the sender'"'"'s address and is addressed to a user of a first client computer of the network system;

categorizing the sender'"'"'s address as being authorized for sending electronic messages to the user of the first computer, unauthorized for sending electronic messages to the user of the first computer, or unconfirmed as to whether the sender'"'"'s address is authorized or unauthorized; and

propagating the categorization of the sender'"'"'s address with respect to users of other client computers of the network system, such that the sender'"'"'s address is also categorized as being authorized, unauthorized, or unconfirmed with respect to said users of the other client computers.

38. The method as recited in claim 37, wherein the act of categorizing the sender'"'"'s address further comprises the acts of:

sending a request to the sender'"'"'s address, wherein the request is to be answered only by receiving input from a person;

categorizing the sender'"'"'s address as being authorized if a correct response is received within a predetermined period of time;

categorizing the sender'"'"'s address as being unauthorized if an incorrect response is received within a predetermined period of time;

categorizing the sender'"'"'s address as being unconfirmed if no response to the request is received within a predetermined period of time; and

according to the categorization of the sender'"'"'s address, modifying a data structure in which the categorization of sender'"'"'s addresses is maintained.

39. The method as recited in claim 37, wherein the act of propagating the categorization of the sender'"'"'s address comprises the act of propagating the categorization of the sender'"'"'s address from a data structure maintained at the first client computer to data structures that are remote with respect to the first client computer.

40. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein the data structures that are remote with respect to the first computer are maintained at the other client computers of the network.

41. The method as recited in claim 39, wherein the data structures that are remote with respect to the first computer are maintained at one or more server computer associated with the other client computers.

42. The method as recited in claim 37, wherein the act of propagating the categorization of the sender'"'"'s address comprises the act of propagating the categorization of the sender'"'"'s addresses from a data structure that is associated with the user of the first client computer and is maintained at a server computer to other data structures that are associated with the users of the other client computers and are also maintained at said server computer.

43. The method as recited in claim 37, wherein the act of propagating the categorization of the sender'"'"'s address comprises the act of propagating the categorization of the sender'"'"'s address from a data structure that is maintained at a first server computer associated with the first client computer to data structures that are maintained by one or more other server computers that are associated with the other client computers.

44. The method as recited in claim 43, wherein the act of propagating the categorization of the sender'"'"'s address from the data structure that is maintained at the first server computer comprises the act of peer-to-peer propagation of the categorization of the sender'"'"'s address from the first server computer to said one or more other server computers.

45. The method as recited in claim 43, wherein the act of propagating the categorization of the sender'"'"'s address from the data structure that is maintained at the first server computer comprises the act of hierarchical propagation of the categorization of the sender'"'"'s address through a hierarchy of servers between the first server and said one or more other server computers.

46. The method as recited in claim 37, wherein the act of propagating the categorization of the sender'"'"'s address comprises the act of propagating the categorization of the sender'"'"'s address from a data structure that is maintained at a first server computer associated with the first client computer to data structures that are maintained at the other client computers of the network.

47. The method as recited in claim 37, further comprising the act of receiving an incoming electronic message addressed to the user of the first computer and filtering the electronic message based on a categorization of a sender'"'"'s address included in the incoming electronic message.

48. The method as recited in claim 37, wherein the act of propagating the categorization of the sender'"'"'s address comprises the act of, in response to the sender'"'"'s address being categorized as being unconfirmed, sending a request to computers that maintain data structures categorizing sender'"'"'s addresses with respect to other users, so as to request information as to whether the sender'"'"'s address has been categorized as being authorized or unauthorized with respect to the other users.

49. In a computer system for managing incoming electronic messages for a recipient, a method for filtering incoming electronic messages using a categorization of the sender'"'"'s addresses, comprising the acts of:

receiving an incoming electronic message that includes a sender'"'"'s address;

determining whether the sender'"'"'s address is categorized as being authorized for sending electronic messages to the recipient or unauthorized for sending electronic messages to the recipient;

if the sender'"'"'s address is categorized as being authorized, enabling the incoming electronic message to be presented to the recipient; and

if the sender'"'"'s address is categorized as being unauthorized, performing the acts of;

segregating the incoming electronic message from other electronic messages that have authorized sender'"'"'s addresses;

transmitting an outgoing electronic message to the sender'"'"'s address reporting on the segregation of the incoming electronic message.

50. The method as recited in claim 49, wherein the act of segregating the incoming electronic message comprises the act of deleting the incoming electronic message.

51. The method as recited in claim 49, wherein the act of segregating the incoming electronic message comprises the act of using a visual mechanism to indicate that the sender'"'"'s address of the incoming electronic message is categorized as being unauthorized.

52. In a computer system for managing incoming electronic messages for a recipient, a method for categorizing sender'"'"'s addresses for purposes of determining whether the sender'"'"'s addresses are authorized for sending electronic messages to the recipient, comprising the acts of:

receiving an incoming electronic message that includes a sender'"'"'s address;

sending a request to the sender'"'"'s address, wherein the request is to be answered only by receiving input from a person, and wherein the request allows the person to input contact information;

categorizing the sender'"'"'s address as being authorized for sending electronic messages to the recipient if a correct response is timely received;

categorizing the sender'"'"'s address as being unauthorized for sending electronic messages to the recipient if an incorrect response is timely received;

categorizing the sender'"'"'s address as being unconfirmed as to whether the sender'"'"'s address is authorized or unauthorized if no response to the request is received; and

if the response is received and contains the contact information, storing the contact information for use by the recipient.

53. The method as recited in claim 52, further comprising the act of determining whether the sender'"'"'s address has already been categorized before sending a request to the sender'"'"'s address.

54. In a computer system for managing incoming electronic messages for a recipient, a method for filtering incoming electronic messages using a categorization of the sender'"'"'s addresses, comprising the acts of:

receiving an incoming electronic message that includes a sender'"'"'s address, wherein the sender'"'"'s address includes a domain;

in response to the incoming electronic message, sending an outgoing electronic message to an address of a manager of the domain requesting information regarding whether the sender'"'"'s address is a valid address associated with the domain;

if the sender'"'"'s address is a valid address, enabling the incoming electronic message to the recipient; and

if the sender'"'"'s address is not a valid address, segregating the incoming electronic message from other electronic messages that have sender'"'"'s addresses that have already been categorized as being authorized for sending electronic messages to the recipient.

55. The method as recited in claim 54, wherein the act of sending an outgoing electronic message to an address of the manager is performed only after determining that the sender'"'"'s address has not yet been authorized for sending electronic messages to the recipient.

56. The method as recited in claim 54, wherein the act of sending an outgoing electronic message to an address of the manager is performed only after the acts of:

sending an outgoing electronic message to the sender'"'"'s address requesting a response thereto; and

failing to receive an accurate and timely response that would indicate that the sender'"'"'s address is a valid address.