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Degrees of separation for handling communications

  • US 7,949,759 B2
  • Filed: 12/29/2003
  • Issued: 05/24/2011
  • Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2003
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method for handling a communication from a sender to an intended recipient, the method comprising:

  • receiving a communication from a sender, wherein the communication is directed to an intended recipient;

    identifying the sender of the communication;

    identifying the intended recipient of the communication;

    accessing a contact list of the intended recipient, the contact list of the intended recipient being maintained in association with a different form of communication than the communication from the sender to the intended recipient and including at least a first user identifier associated with the different form of communication;

    accessing a contact list of the first user identifier, the contact list of the first user identifier including at least a second user identifier;

    determining, based in part on the accessed first contact list and the accessed second contact list, whether the sender and the intended recipient are linked by less than a threshold number of degrees of separation; and

    determining whether the communication is a spam communication based at least in part on whether the sender and the intended recipient are linked by less than the threshold number of degrees of separation.

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