SETTING PERMISSIONS FOR LINKS FORWARDED IN ELECTRONIC MESSAGES

• US 20120284345A1
• Filed: 05/06/2011
• Published: 11/08/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Costenaro, Daniel Paul, Brown, Jedidiah, Limont, David Paul
• Granted Patent: US 10,185,932 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/08 Annexed information, e.g. attachments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/18 Commands or executable codes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages

Abstract

A permission manager detects when the message including the link is forwarded and sends a notification to the author indicating that the message was forwarded to another recipient. A notification may also be sent to the recipient who received the forwarded message indicating that the author has been notified that the recipient is not authorized to access the linked content within the forwarded message. The author may set the permissions for accessing the linked content from permission options that are displayed with the notification message sent by the permission manager. Once the permissions are set, the permission manager may send a notification to the recipient of the forwarded message with information relating to the set permissions.

Claims

1. A method for setting permissions of links forwarded in an electronic message, comprising:

detecting when a link that is contained within an electronic message that is created by an author is forwarded to a recipient;

automatically sending a message to the author indicating that the electronic message including the link was forwarded to the recipient when the recipient is unauthorized to access the linked content;

receiving permission settings from the author for setting permissions of the link for the recipient; and

setting the permissions of the link for the recipient using the received permissions from the author.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the permission settings from the author comprise receiving an electronic message from the author that includes the permission settings.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the electronic message from the author that includes the permission settings comprises receiving a reply to the message sent to the author that indicates that the electronic message including the link was forwarded to the recipient.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending an informational message to the recipient that indicates that the author is determining permissions of the link for the recipient.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising sending a second informational message to the recipient that indicates that the author has set the permissions of the link for the recipient.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a selectable menu option within a display of the message sent to the author to set the permissions of the link.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a selectable menu option within a display of the message before it is sent to the recipient that provides options for setting permissions of the link.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the options for setting the permissions of the link comprise adding a user to the recipient to the set permissions of the link.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the link that is contained within the electronic message that is created by an author includes automatically setting the permissions of the link for the recipient.

10. A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions for setting permissions of links forwarded in an electronic message, comprising:

detecting when a link that is contained within an electronic message that is created by an author is forwarded to a recipient;

automatically sending a message to the author indicating that the electronic message including the link was forwarded to the recipient;

receiving permission settings in a reply message from the automatically sent message from the author for setting permissions of the link for the recipient; and

setting the permissions of the link for the recipient using the received permissions from the author.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, further comprising sending an informational message to the recipient that indicates that the author is determining permissions of the link for the recipient.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, further comprising sending a second informational message to the recipient that indicates that the author has set the permissions of the link for the recipient.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, further comprising providing a selectable menu option within a display of the message sent to the author to set the permissions of the link.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, further comprising providing a selectable menu option within a display of the message before it is sent to the recipient that provides options for setting permissions of the link.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the options for setting the permissions of the link comprise adding a user to the recipient to the set permissions of the link.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the link that is contained within the electronic message that is created by an author includes automatically setting the permissions of the link for the recipient.

17. A system for setting permissions of links forwarded in an electronic message, comprising:

a network connection that is configured to connect to a network;

a processor, memory, and a computer-readable storage medium;

an operating environment stored on the computer-readable storage medium and executing on the processor;

a messaging application; and

a permission manager operating in conjunction with the messaging application that is configured to perform actions comprising;

detecting when a link that is contained within an electronic message that is created by an author is forwarded to a recipient;

automatically sending a message to the author indicating that the electronic message including the link was forwarded to the recipient;

automatically sending an informational message to the recipient that indicates that the author is determining permissions of the link for the recipient;

receiving permission settings in a reply message from the automatically sent message from the author for setting permissions of the link for the recipient; and

setting the permissions of the link for the recipient using the received permissions from the author.

18. The system of claim 17, further comprising sending a second informational message to the recipient that indicates that the author has set the permissions of the link for the recipient.

19. The system of claim 17, further comprising providing a selectable menu option within a display of the message sent to the author to set the permissions of the link.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the link that is contained within the electronic message that is created by an author includes automatically setting the permissions of the link for the recipient.