Method and apparatus for controlling unsolicited messaging
First Claim
1. A method for controlling unsolicited RTM calls, the method comprising:
- assigning one or more system identifiers that do not correspond to an actual user;
receiving a first call to one or more of the system identifiers;
retrieving caller identification information from the first call;
creating one or more filter rules based upon the caller identification information;
receiving a second call;
determining if the second call matches one or more of the filter rules;
upon determining that the second call matches one or more of the filter rules, acting upon the second call; and
upon determining that the second call does not match one or more of the filter rules, allowing the second call.
17 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Sensor nodes (or addresses therefore), acting as real-time message decoys, are distributed across a real-time communications network to attract unsolicited real-time messages. Filtering rules are derived from the message characteristics (such as the source address) and messaging content of the traffic encountered at the sensor nodes. The filtering rules are distributed to filtering agents positioned in the communications network in such a way that they can filter traffic for legitimate users. The filtering agents may identify and control the disposition of real-time messaging traffic that is part of a mass communication campaign on behalf of legitimate users of the real-time messaging communication system. Disposition may include suppressing, diverting, or labeling.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method for controlling unsolicited RTM calls, the method comprising:
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assigning one or more system identifiers that do not correspond to an actual user; receiving a first call to one or more of the system identifiers; retrieving caller identification information from the first call; creating one or more filter rules based upon the caller identification information; receiving a second call; determining if the second call matches one or more of the filter rules; upon determining that the second call matches one or more of the filter rules, acting upon the second call; and upon determining that the second call does not match one or more of the filter rules, allowing the second call. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A system for controlling unsolicited messaging in a real-time messaging (RTM) network comprising at least one receiving terminal device adapted to receive RTM messages and at least one sending terminal device adapted to send RTM messages including unsolicited RTM messages via said RTM network to said at least one receiving device, said system comprising:
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at least one sensor node coupled to the RTM network, each sensor node adapted to receive RTM messages from said sending terminal devices; a monitoring and analysis facility coupled to the at least one sensor node, said monitoring and analysis facility adapted to; collect RTM message characteristics determined from unsolicited RTM messages received by said at least one sensor node; construct filtering rules to identify and control unsolicited RTM messages; and provide the filtering rules to one or more filtering agents; and one or more filtering agents, each filtering agent coupled to the monitoring and analysis facility to receive said filtering rules and coupled to the RTM network to receive RTM messages for at least one receiving terminal device, each filtering agent applying said filtering rules to identify and control unsolicited RTM messages. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
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8. A method for controlling unsolicited messaging in a real-time messaging (RTM) network comprising at least one receiving terminal device adapted to receive RTM messages and at least one sending terminal device adapted to send RTM messages including unsolicited RTM messages via said RTM network to said at least one receiving device, said method comprising:
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receiving unsolicited RTM messages from said sending terminal devices; collecting real-time message characteristics determined from said unsolicited RTM messages; constructing and providing filtering rules for application to identify and control unsolicited RTM messages; receiving RTM messages for a first receiving terminal device; applying said filtering rules to identify whether the RTM messages received for said first receiving terminal device match the filtering rules; upon determining that an RTM message matches the filtering rules, acting upon the RTM message; and upon determining that an RTM message does not match the filtering rules, allowing the RTM message to pass to the first receiving terminal. - View Dependent Claims (9)
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10. A method of controlling unsolicited real-time messaging (RTM) messages, the method comprising:
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receiving unsolicited RTM messages from a sending device; automatically constructing one or more filtering rules from the unsolicited RTM messages, the filtering rules identifying characteristics of messages that are to be blocked; receiving a first RTM message sent to a first terminal device; determining whether the first RTM message matches one or more of the filtering rules; upon determining that the first RTM message matches one or more of the filtering rules, acting upon the first RTM message; and upon determining that the first RTM message does not match one or more of the filtering rules, allowing the first RTM message. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of controlling unsolicited real-time messaging (RTM) messages, the method comprising:
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identifying one or more network addresses, the network addresses not being related to an actual user; receiving unsolicited RTM messages from a sending device; constructing one or more filtering rules from the unsolicited RTM messages, the filtering rules identifying characteristics of messages that are to be acted upon; receiving a first RTM message sent to a first terminal device; determining whether the first RTM message matches one or more of the filtering rules; upon determining that the first RTM message matches one or more of the filtering rules, acting upon the first message; and upon determining that the first RTM message does not match one or more of the filtering rules, allowing the first RTM message. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A computer program product for controlling unsolicited real-time messaging (RTM) messages, the computer program product having a medium with a computer program embodied thereon, the computer program comprising:
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computer program code for identifying one or more network addresses, the network addresses not being related to an actual user; computer program code for receiving unsolicited RTM messages from a sending device; computer program code for constructing one or more filtering rules from the unsolicited RTM messages, the filtering rules identifying characteristics of messages that are to be acted upon; computer program code for receiving a first RTM message sent to a first terminal device; computer program code for determining whether the first RTM message matches one or more of the filtering rules; computer program code for acting upon the first RTM message upon determining that the first RTM message matches one or more of the filtering rules; and computer program code for allowing the first RTM message upon determining that the first RTM message does not match one or more of the filtering rules. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification