Method, system and server for sending and receiving e-mails with different addresses

• US 20060031302A1
• Filed: 07/29/2003
• Published: 02/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Emidex Oy
• Original Assignee: Emidex Oy
• Inventors: Nuortila, Olli
• Application Number:
  US10/628,225
• Publication Number:
  US 20060031302A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/48 Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/45 Network directories; Name-to-address mapping

Abstract

The method makes possible to keep particular e-mails separate from other e-mails and is based upon an interaction between a plug-in program in the user'"'"'s e-mail client program and a separate mediating server. User'"'"'s private address and e-mail service address are saved in the mediating server. E-mail client program is programmed to send all private messages to the mediating server. When a message is sent the plug-in program removes the original user given recipient address on the recipient field temporarily to another field, and replaces it with the address of the mediating server. To the user the message appears to have been sent to the original recipient. The mediating server receives the messages, replaces the sender'"'"'s address with the sender'"'"'s private address in the mediating server, restores the original recipient address(es), from the other field of the message, to the recipient field(s) and sends the message to the original recipient(s).

Claims

1. A method for keeping user'"'"'s particular outgoing e-mail correspondence separate from user'"'"'s other e-mail correspondence, characterized by the steps of:

in the user'"'"'s e-mail client program

replacing in a particular outgoing e-mail message a recipient address set by the user with the address of a mediating server,

moving the recipient address into another field of the e-mail message,

sending the e-mail message to the mediating server,

and in the mediating server

moving in the e-mail message to be forwarded the recipient address from said another field into the recipient field, and

placing the address used in said particular e-mail correspondence into the sender field of the e-mail message.

2. The method as in claim 1, characterized in that

the recipient address is put into the recipient field of the message,

additional information is added to the recipient address in the recipient field which causes the recipient address to be ignored when the message is routed to the mediating server.

3. The method as in claim 1, characterized in that

when the user places a plurality of recipient addresses to the message all the recipient addresses are replaced with the address of the mediating server,

all the recipient addresses placed to the message by the user are moved into other field or fields of the message than any of the recipient fields.

4. The method as in claim 1, characterized in that replacing and moving of the address are carried out automatically in response to the pressing by the user of a particular send button.

5. The as in claim 1, characterized in that replacing and moving of the address are made automatically by means of a particular message writing form that contains the address of the mediating server not visible to the user.

6. A method for keeping user'"'"'s incoming particular e-mail correspondence separate from user'"'"'s other e-mail correspondence, characterized by the steps of:

routing an e-mail mail addressed to the user'"'"'s particular e-mail address is to a mediating server,

moving in the mediating server the original sender address into other field than the address field,

replacing the address in the recipient field with another address specified by the user,

placing the address of the mediating server into the sender field, and

retransmitting the e-mail to the address specified by the user.

7. The method as in claim 6, characterized in that

an identifier is added to a message retransmitted from the mediating server,

a message received by the user'"'"'s e-mail client program is identified to be a particular message on the bases of the identifier.

8. The method as in claim 6, characterized in that, in the user'"'"'s e-mail client program,

the original e-mail address of the sender is moved from said other field into the sender field of the received e-mail message.

9. The method as in claim 6, characterized in that when the user is one of the recipients of the e-mail message sent from the original sender address:

in the mediating server, the addresses of the other recipients of the message to be sent further from the mediating server are replaced to other field than the address field of the message,

in the user'"'"'s e-mail client program, the addresses of the other recipients are extracted from said other field and shown to the user.

10. A system for keeping user'"'"'s particular e-mail correspondence separate from user'"'"'s other e-mail correspondence, comprising:

an e-mail client program in the user'"'"'s computer for sending and receiving e-mails,

a mediating server that retransmits e-mail messages received from the user to the message'"'"'s recipient address and e-mail messages sent to the user to the user'"'"'s e-mail address

characterized in that the mediating server comprises;

a database containing the user'"'"'s e-mail address in the e-mail service that he is using and the user'"'"'s address in the mediating server,

means for replacing the sender address of the message received from the user with the user'"'"'s address in the mediating server, and for replacing the mediating server'"'"'s address in the recipient address field with the address or addresses of the original recipient(s) temporarily placed in another field or fields than address field of the message.

means for replacing the user'"'"'s mediating server address in the receiver field of the message received to the user'"'"'s mediating server address with the user'"'"'s address in the e-mail service that he is using and for moving the sender address of the received message into another field of a message to be retransmitted,

and that a plug-in program has been added to the e-mail client program, said plug-in program bein adapted to;

replace, in a message to be sent from the client program, the receiver'"'"'s address placed in the recipient address field of the message by the user with the address of the mediating server,

move, in a message to be sent from the client program, the receiver'"'"'s address placed in the recipient address field of the message by the user into other field of the message than an address field, and

replace, the in the message received to the client program, the original sender address placed in said other field than the address field to the sender field of the message.

11. An e-mail mediating server in a computer network e.g. in the Internet, characterized in that the mediating server comprises:

a database containing users'"'"' e-mail address in the e-mail service that they are using and the users'"'"' e-mail address in the mediating server,

means for replacing the sender address of a message received from a user with the user'"'"'s e-mail address in the mediating server and for replacing the address of the mediating server in the receiver address field with the address of the receiver, or that of the receivers placed in another field of the message than an address field,

means for replacing the user'"'"'s mediating server address in the recipient field of a message received to the mediating server with the user'"'"'s e-mail address in the e-mail service he is using and for placing the sender address of the message received to the mediating server to another field of the message than an address field in the message to be retransmitted.

12. The e-mail mediating server as in claim 11, characterized in that it further comprises means for placing the other recipient addresses of a message received to the user'"'"'s mediating server address to another field of the message to be retransmitted than to an address field so that the user'"'"'s e-mail client program can then extract these other addresses and show them to the recipient.