Secure Electronic Mail System
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method of securely communicating e-mail messages, comprising:
- receiving, at a server system, an original e-mail message 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;
in response to an opt-out request received from one of the recipients in the distribution list, modifying the corresponding thread participation status indicator for the requesting recipient to indicate that the requesting recipient has opted out of receiving further e-mail messages in a same thread as the original e-mail message;
updating the distribution list by deleting or adding recipients from the distribution list based on the respective status 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 the requesting recipient;
receiving, at the server system, a reply e-mail message in the same thread for sending from a recipient of the original e-mail message in the modified distribution list to other users in the modified distribution list, where the reply message is associated with the unique message ID of the original e-mail message; 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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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.
100 Citations
17 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 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; in response to an opt-out request received from one of the recipients in the distribution list, modifying the corresponding thread participation status indicator for the requesting recipient to indicate that the requesting recipient has opted out of receiving further e-mail messages in a same thread as the original e-mail message; updating the distribution list by deleting or adding recipients from the distribution list based on the respective status 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 the requesting recipient; receiving, at the server system, a reply e-mail message in the same thread for sending from a recipient of the original e-mail message in the modified distribution list to other users in the modified distribution list, where the reply message is associated with the unique message ID of the original e-mail message; 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. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A secure e-mail server system, comprising:
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a logic subsystem; and a data-holding subsystem comprising instructions stored thereon that are executable by the logic subsystem to; receive an original e-mail message 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; in response to an opt-out request received from one of the recipients in the distribution list, modify the corresponding thread participation status indicator for the requesting recipient to indicate that the requesting recipient has opted out of receiving further e-mail messages in a same thread as the original e-mail message; update the distribution list by deleting or adding recipients from the distribution list based on the respective status 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 the requesting recipient; receive a reply e-mail message in the same thread for sending from a recipient of the original e-mail in the modified distribution list to other users in the modified distribution list, where the reply message is associated with the unique message ID of the original e-mail message; 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 recipient of the original e-mail message who sent the opt-out request. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification