Apparatus for locating a stolen electronic device using electronic mail
First Claim
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1. An electrical device, comprising:
- (i) a processor adapted to execute program instructions; and
(ii) a program storage device containing program instructions that when executed;
(a) monitor output data of an e-mail application program to detect that an electronic message, referred to as an e-mail, is to be sent by the electronic device from a sender address to a recipient address specified in the e-mail;
(b) compare the sender address to a predetermined owner address; and
(c) redirect the e-mail message in a specified manner if the sender address does not match the owner address.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus for locating a stolen computer or other electrical device is implemented by special programming stored in a program storage device. When an e-mail is being sent from the stolen electronic device, the sender address is compared to an owner address. If the sender address does not match the owner address, the e-mail is redirected or copied to e.g. a law-enforcement agency or a stolen-computer registry address.
225 Citations
37 Claims
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1. An electrical device, comprising:
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(i) a processor adapted to execute program instructions; and (ii) a program storage device containing program instructions that when executed; (a) monitor output data of an e-mail application program to detect that an electronic message, referred to as an e-mail, is to be sent by the electronic device from a sender address to a recipient address specified in the e-mail; (b) compare the sender address to a predetermined owner address; and (c) redirect the e-mail message in a specified manner if the sender address does not match the owner address. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An electronic device containing (1) a processor, and (2) a program storage device containing program instructions, executable by the processor, to cause the electronic device to perform operations comprising:
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(a) detecting that an electronic message, referred to as a sender'"'"'s e-mail, is to be sent by the electronic device to a recipient address associated with the e-mail; (b) comparing a sender address associated with the sender'"'"'s e-mail to a predetermined owner address; and (c) if the sender address does not match the owner address, then sending an electronic message containing identifying information about the electronic device, referred to as a reporting e-mail, to (i) the owner address, and (ii) an address of a monitoring service.
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19. A program storage device encoded with instructions that when executed perform a method comprising:
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(a) detecting that an e-mail is being sent from an electronic device by monitoring the output data of an e-mail application program; (b) comparing a sender address to an owner address; and (c) redirecting the e-mail in a specified manner if the sender address does not match the owner address. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. An electronic device containing (1) a processor, and (2) a program storage device containing program instructions, executable by the processor to cause the electronic device to perform operations comprising:
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(a) detecting that an electronic message, referred to as a sender'"'"'s e-mail, is to be sent by the electronic device to a recipient address associated with the e-mail; (b) comparing a sender address associated with the sender'"'"'s e-mail to a predetermined owner address; and (c) if the sender address does not match the owner address, then sending an electronic message containing identifying information about the electronic device, referred to as a reporting e-mail, to at least one specified address. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification