Controlling receipt of undesired electronic mail
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method comprising:
- authorizing a given message transfer agent to make a given maximum number of connections and deliver a given number of messages within a time period;
determining when the given maximum number of connections has been completed and the given number of messages delivered;
if so, determining whether a given time period has elapsed since the given number of connections has been completed and the given number of messages delivered;
accepting a new connection request from said given message transfer agent if the time period has elapsed; and
otherwise, dropping the connection request to an external message transfer agent and issuing a temporary error code indicating to retry at a sufficiently later time.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Spam and other unwanted electronic-mail may be controlled by a system in which a given external message transfer agent using a given Internet protocol address and a given domain name is limited in the number of connections that it may make and the number of messages it may deliver over a given time period. Based on the performance of that external message transfer agent, the passage of time and the number of connections, its assigned connection limit may be increased so that progressively trust is increased and more message connections and a higher number of messages delivered may be permitted.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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authorizing a given message transfer agent to make a given maximum number of connections and deliver a given number of messages within a time period; determining when the given maximum number of connections has been completed and the given number of messages delivered; if so, determining whether a given time period has elapsed since the given number of connections has been completed and the given number of messages delivered; accepting a new connection request from said given message transfer agent if the time period has elapsed; and otherwise, dropping the connection request to an external message transfer agent and issuing a temporary error code indicating to retry at a sufficiently later time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed, enable a processor-based device to:
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authorize a given message transfer agent to make a given maximum number of connections and deliver a given number of messages within a time period; determine when the given maximum number of connections has been completed and the given number of messages delivered; if so, determine whether a given time period has elapsed since the given number of connections has been completed and the given number of messages delivered; accept a new connection request from said given message transfer agent if the time period has elapsed; and otherwise, drop the connection request to an external message transfer agent and issuing a temporary error code indicating to retry at a sufficiently later time. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A processor-based device comprising:
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a controller; a storage, coupled to said controller, storing instructions that, if executed, enable the processor-based device to authorize a given message transfer agent to make a given maximum number of connections and deliver a given number of messages within a time period, determine when the given maximum number of connections has been completed and the given number of messages delivered, and if so, determine whether a given time period has elapsed since the given number of connections has been completed and the given number of messages delivered, accept a new connection request from said given message transfer agent if the time period has elapsed, and otherwise, drop the connection request to an external message transfer agent and issuing a temporary error code indicating to retry at a sufficiently later time; and a wireless interface coupled to said controller. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification