Secure electronic mail system with thread/conversation opt out
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method of securely communicating e-mail messages, comprising:
- receiving, at a server system, an original e-mail message in unencrypted form, via a secure communication protocol, from a sender, the original e-mail message to be sent to a plurality of recipients, the original e-mail message associated with a unique message ID that is assigned by the server system;
storing an original distribution list associated with the unique message ID on the server system, the original distribution list including the sender and one or more recipients;
storing a thread participation status indicator for each of the one or more recipients on the distribution list in a database;
sending, from the server system, a notification message to the one or more recipients on the distribution list, the notification message including a message access key for subsequent retrieval of the email message;
upon access of the notification message by the one or more recipients, receiving, at the server system, the message access key from the one or more recipients;
sending, from the server system, the original e-mail message in unencrypted form to the one or more recipients, via the secure communication protocol, in response to validation of the message access key;
in response to receiving, at the server system, an opt-out request from a recipient on the distribution list, modifying the corresponding thread participation status indicator for the recipient to indicate that the recipient has opted out of receiving further e-mail messages in a thread that includes the original e-mail message;
updating the distribution list by deleting or adding recipients from the distribution list based on the respective thread participation status indicator of each of the recipients to thereby produce a modified distribution list that has a different set of recipients than the original distribution list and that does not include any recipient having a thread participation status indicator indicating that the recipient has opted out of the thread;
receiving, at the server system, a reply e-mail message in unencrypted form, via the secure communication protocol, the reply e-mail message being in the thread and associated with the unique message ID of the original e-mail message; and
sending, from the server system, the reply e-mail message in unencrypted form, via the secure communication protocol, based on the modified distribution list such that the reply e-mail message is not sent to any recipient having a thread participation status indicator indicating that the recipient has opted out of the thread.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An e-mail system is disclosed that overcomes many deficiencies of, but is backward compatible with, existing e-mail systems. An exemplary method for communicating e-mail messages comprises receiving, at a server system, an original e-mail message associated with a unique message ID that is assigned by the server system. The method further comprises storing a distribution list associated with the unique message ID and a thread participation status indicator for each of the one or more recipients, and, in response to an opt-out request received from one of the recipients, updating the distribution list to thereby produce a modified distribution list that does not include the requesting recipient. The method further comprises receiving a reply e-mail message in the same thread, and sending the reply e-mail message based on the modified distribution list such that the reply e-mail message is not sent to the requesting recipient.
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Citations
21 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method of securely communicating e-mail messages, comprising:
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receiving, at a server system, an original e-mail message in unencrypted form, via a secure communication protocol, from a sender, the original e-mail message to be sent to a plurality of recipients, the original e-mail message associated with a unique message ID that is assigned by the server system; storing an original distribution list associated with the unique message ID on the server system, the original distribution list including the sender and one or more recipients; storing a thread participation status indicator for each of the one or more recipients on the distribution list in a database; sending, from the server system, a notification message to the one or more recipients on the distribution list, the notification message including a message access key for subsequent retrieval of the email message; upon access of the notification message by the one or more recipients, receiving, at the server system, the message access key from the one or more recipients; sending, from the server system, the original e-mail message in unencrypted form to the one or more recipients, via the secure communication protocol, in response to validation of the message access key; in response to receiving, at the server system, an opt-out request from a recipient on the distribution list, modifying the corresponding thread participation status indicator for the recipient to indicate that the recipient has opted out of receiving further e-mail messages in a thread that includes the original e-mail message; updating the distribution list by deleting or adding recipients from the distribution list based on the respective thread participation status indicator of each of the recipients to thereby produce a modified distribution list that has a different set of recipients than the original distribution list and that does not include any recipient having a thread participation status indicator indicating that the recipient has opted out of the thread; receiving, at the server system, a reply e-mail message in unencrypted form, via the secure communication protocol, the reply e-mail message being in the thread and associated with the unique message ID of the original e-mail message; and sending, from the server system, the reply e-mail message in unencrypted form, via the secure communication protocol, based on the modified distribution list such that the reply e-mail message is not sent to any recipient having a thread participation status indicator indicating that the recipient has opted out of the thread. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A secure e-mail server system, comprising:
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a logic device; and a data-holding device comprising instructions stored thereon that are executable by the logic device to; receive an original e-mail message in unencrypted form, via a secure communication protocol, from a sender, the original e-mail message to be sent to a plurality of recipients, the original e-mail message associated with a unique message ID that is assigned by the server system; store an original distribution list associated with the unique message ID on the server system, the original distribution list including the sender and one or more recipients; store a thread participation status indicator for each of the one or more recipients on the distribution list in a database; send a notification message to the one or more recipients on the distribution list, the notification message including a message access key for subsequent retrieval of the email message; upon access of the notification message by the one or more recipients, receive the message access key from the one or more recipients; send the original e-mail message in unencrypted form to the one or more recipients, via the secure communication protocol, in response to validation of the message access key; in response to receiving an opt-out request from a recipient on the distribution list, modify the corresponding thread participation status indicator for the recipient to indicate that the recipient has opted out of receiving further e-mail messages in a thread that includes the original e-mail message; in response to receiving a retroactive opt-in request from a recipient that had previously opted out of receiving e-mail message in the thread or was added to the distribution list subsequent to the original e-mail message being sent by sender, modify the corresponding thread participation status indicator for the recipient to indicate that the recipient that made the retroactive opt-in request has opted in to receiving e-mail messages in the thread that the recipient previously had not received prior to making the retroactive opt-in as well as future e-mail messages to be sent in the thread; in response to receiving the retroactive opt-in request from the recipient, send to the recipient that made the retroactive opt-in request e-mail messages in the thread that were previously not delivered to the recipient that made the retroactive opt-in request as a result of the recipient having opted out of the thread or as a result of not being on the distribution list when the e-mail messages were previously delivered; in response to receiving a future opt-in request from a recipient, modify the corresponding thread participation status indicator for the recipient that made the future opt-in request to indicate that the recipient that made the future opt-in request has opted in to receiving future e-mail messages to be sent in the thread without receiving e-mail messages previously created in the thread while the recipient that made the future opt-in request had opted out of the thread; update the distribution list by deleting or adding recipients from the distribution list based on the respective thread participation status indicator of each of the recipients to thereby produce a modified distribution list that has a different set of recipients than the original distribution list and that does not include any recipient having a thread participation status indicator indicating that the recipient has opted out of the thread; receive a reply e-mail message in unencrypted form, via the secure communication protocol, the reply e-mail message being in the thread and associated with the unique message ID of the original e-mail message; and send the reply e-mail message in unencrypted form, via the secure communication protocol, based on the modified distribution list such that the reply e-mail message is not sent to any recipient having a thread participation status indicator indicating that the recipient has opted out of the thread. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification