E-mail policy compliance techniques
First Claim
1. A method of providing electronic messaging services in an e-mail network comprising an e-mail entity operable to send and receive messages on behalf of its end-users over electronic message delivery paths between the e-mail entity and e-mail sending and receiving servers, the method comprising:
- inserting an intermediate service into at least one of the electronic message delivery paths by changing an MX record in a DNS database containing an IP address of an e-mail server of the e-mail entity to contain an IP address for the intermediate service;
providing a database in the intermediate service, the database having user profiles associated with the end-users of the e-mail entity;
receiving an e-mail message in the intermediate service over at least one of the electronic message delivery paths, the e-mail message comprising content and IP routing information;
examining at least one of the content and the IP routing information of the received e-mail message; and
delivering the e-mail message to at least one destination based on the examination and in accordance with a user profile in the database in the intermediate service.
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Accused Products
Abstract
According to the described embodiments, an intermediate electronic messaging service is inserted into a message delivery path connecting to an e-mail entity such as an ISP. A database is provided in the intermediate service, the database having user profiles associated with the users of the ISP or other e-mail entity. The intermediate service receives email message over the electronic message delivery path into which it has been inserted, where the e-mail messages comprise at least content and IP routing information. Within the intermediate service, at least one of the content and the IP routing information of the received e-mail message is examined, and the e-mail message is then delivered to a destination based on the examination and in accordance with a user profile in the database in the intermediate service.
78 Citations
64 Claims
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1. A method of providing electronic messaging services in an e-mail network comprising an e-mail entity operable to send and receive messages on behalf of its end-users over electronic message delivery paths between the e-mail entity and e-mail sending and receiving servers, the method comprising:
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inserting an intermediate service into at least one of the electronic message delivery paths by changing an MX record in a DNS database containing an IP address of an e-mail server of the e-mail entity to contain an IP address for the intermediate service;
providing a database in the intermediate service, the database having user profiles associated with the end-users of the e-mail entity;
receiving an e-mail message in the intermediate service over at least one of the electronic message delivery paths, the e-mail message comprising content and IP routing information;
examining at least one of the content and the IP routing information of the received e-mail message; and
delivering the e-mail message to at least one destination based on the examination and in accordance with a user profile in the database in the intermediate service. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A method of providing electronic messaging services in an e-mail network comprising an e-mail entity operable to send and receive e-mail messages on behalf of its users over electronic message delivery paths between the e-mail entity and e-mail sending and receiving servers, the method comprising:
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inserting an intermediate service into at least one of the electronic message delivery paths by substituting an address for the intermediate service for an address for an e-mail server of the e-mail entity;
providing a database in the intermediate service, the database having user profiles associated with the users of the e-mail entity;
receiving an e-mail message in the intermediate service over at least one of the electronic message delivery paths, the e-mail message comprising content and IP routing information;
examining at least one of the content and the IP routing information of the received e-mail message to determine whether the e-mail message is good or bad according to at least one of the user profiles;
delivering the e-mail message to at least one destination in accordance with whether the e-mail message is determined to be good or bad. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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64. A method of providing electronic messaging services in an e-mail network comprising an e-mail entity operable to send and receive e-mail messages on behalf of its end-users over electronic message delivery paths between the e-mail entity and e-mail sending and receiving servers, the method comprising:
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inserting an intermediate service into at least one of the electronic message delivery paths by substituting an address for the intermediate service for an address for a primary e-mail server of at least one of the end-users of the e-mail entity;
providing a database in the intermediate service, the database having user profiles associated with the end-users of the e-mail entity;
receiving an e-mail message in the intermediate service over at least one of the electronic message delivery paths, the e-mail message comprising content and IP routing information;
examining at least one of the content and the IP routing information of the received e-mail message to determine whether the e-mail message is good or bad according to rules set forth at least one of the user profiles;
delivering the e-mail message to a destination in accordance with whether the e-mail message is determined to be good or bad and according to a destination specified in the at least one user profile.
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Specification