JP2008520022A - Method and system for preventing the reception of unwanted electronic messages such as spam mail - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and system for preventing the reception of unwanted electronic communication messages, such as e-mails sent to a user from an external entity (eg a person), according to which each of the entities Is initially given a unique address or member channel for the user to communicate with. This unique address is given to the external entity only after the correct answer is given by the external entity during the initial challenge / response procedure. The unique address forms part of the email address itself, thus avoiding the need for a specific password to be given each time an external entity tries to communicate with the user. The user himself experiences the method and system according to the invention very transparently, thus giving the user a very high degree of protection against receiving unwanted electronic messages while allowing the user to experience normal mail reception.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates generally to the field of electronic communication networks and methods for communicating with these networks, and more particularly to communication by electronic mail in such networks, particularly unwanted electronic devices commonly known as spam. The present invention relates to a method for preventing mail reception and a corresponding system.

  Numerous methods and systems are known in the art for preventing the reception of unwanted email (spam). For example, US Pat. No. 6,266,692 discloses a method for blocking unwanted email using a header-based password. According to the method, all senders wishing to communicate with a recipient via email must receive prior approval before they can actually send an email to the recipient. Therefore, each sender is assigned an individual passcode provided by the recipient, and the passed passcode is entered into the specified field in the email header each time an email is sent to the recipient. Must. E-mail without a passcode can be kept in the memory of the provided communication network until the recipient wishes to receive them. Alternatively, the network provider eventually deletes them. The first email with the wrong password is deleted anyway.

  An alternative method and system is described in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0181462 relating to an electronic communication service that can prevent spam reception and further store and update a spam database for screening spam. Yes. The system includes a filtering step that is invoked before an electronic message is sent from the service provider to the recipient, whereby junk email is deleted. This deletion is accomplished by comparing incoming emails with known unwanted emails and the sender's database, and if the comparison is positive, a portion of the email is added to the database and marked as unnecessary. . The specification details how to guess whether an incoming e-mail should be considered unnecessary, which requires the calculation of the probability P that the incoming e-mail was sent from an undesired source. is there. The calculated probabilities are then compared to a threshold value that in this way determines the importance of avoiding unnecessary email reception. In this method and system, no special passcode or other identifier is required.

Definitions Below, a number of terms used herein are defined.

User / Member As used herein, a person, organization, company, etc. that communicates by email with one or more external entities (people, organizations, etc.) using the communication method or system according to the invention Other entities are called users. In order to utilize the method and system of the present invention, a user must actually subscribe to the services provided by the method and system, and the system requirements as described in more detail in the following paragraphs. The hardware and / or software resides at the network provider or other organization or company, or alternatively at the user's own.

  As used herein, a person, organization, company, or other entity that communicates with a user via email is referred to as a member.

Spam Throughout this specification, the term spam is not limited to, but mainly refers to spam emails sent to users, for example, to promote products or services, or simply to annoy users. Point to. It further refers to inappropriate or unwanted promotional or commercial postings to discussion groups, bulletin boards, or newsletters that allow users to receive unwanted emails. Thus, for example, all unwanted emails resulting from machine-based delivery are included in the definition of spam in the context of the present invention.

  In a more general sense, the term spam is used herein as a common term for all unwanted electronic communication messages, etc. that the user wants to be able to avoid receiving in a manner that is basically controlled by the user himself / herself. used.

The spammer spammer has knowledge of other access information needed to obtain access e-mail address of the user or to the user's electronic communication means, or pass this address to others, or the user themselves Refers to anyone (or any means, organization, etc.) that creates spam. Similarly, “spamming” refers to unwanted e-mail or other that originates from the person, means, or organization itself, or originates elsewhere through the person, means, or organization. Is provided to the user.

A system is a collection of technologies that work together in circles, be understood as a kind of barrier that surrounds users and protects them from receiving spam.

  The required electronic systems are largely in line with existing technologies / elements such as required servers, databases, browsers, electronic data transmission means, etc., which are mostly more functional and more complex than the system itself. Based.

Circle The circle described above is a means that is formed when technology collaborates with a particular setting and is controlled by a particular special computer code.

  This circle is a specific part of the system. Specialized computer code functionality and technology settings are considered “glue” to hold the circle properly. To use other email technologies, other specially designed lines of code are required, but the circle can be converted to an environment not described herein.

  The user's experience using a system set up in a circle is the result of the system.

  Conceptually, a circle can be viewed as a closed boundary that surrounds the user of the system, thereby preventing the user from receiving unwanted electronic communication items, such as email.

What is widely known as a mail channel mail address or mail channel can be described by the [user name] @ [domain] notation.

Based on the background described the disclosure beginning of invention the object of the present invention, for the promotion of a product or service, or simply as a message sent to annoy the user, spam e-mail or other It is to provide a method and corresponding system by which reception of electronic communication items can be avoided. This ingenious method and system further avoids receiving inappropriate or unwanted promotional or commercial notices on discussion groups and bulletin boards or newsletters that allow users to receive unwanted emails or other electronic messages. To do. As a specific result, the reception of all unwanted e-mails, for example due to machine-based distribution, is avoided.

  It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and system that allows a user to control rejection of unwanted emails or other electronic messages during normal reception of the email or message without the user experiencing the presence of the system. Is to provide. That is, during normal use, the method and system are experienced “transparently” by the user.

  According to the present invention, the object is that each user has a unique email address for each member, rather than all senders sending mail to ([username] @ [domain]). This is achieved by a method using a technique for assigning a mail address / access address (so-called member channel). Thus, the unique mail address according to the present invention is, for example, ([Member Channel] @ [User Name]. [Domain]) or [Member Channel]. It can be in the format (notation) of [user name] @ [domain]. The particular format of the email address is not important per se, but rather each member according to the invention is assigned a unique member channel for the user, which member channel is specified in the address itself.

  The address or “name” of the member channel can be selected so that a particular member can easily remember it. Thus, in certain embodiments of the invention, the members themselves define their own addresses.

  For example, the address is [member name] [number] @ [service provider name]. com, where the member name can be, for example, the first name of the member.

  Such individual mail addresses are called “channels” or “mail channels”.

  The channel is used as a “destination address” (recipient) when a member contacts the system and as a “source address” (sender) when a user sends mail from the system.

  Therefore, the user does not need to consider which channel is used, but only needs to consider who the mail is sent to.

  A member has no knowledge of many other addresses in the system, and when sending mail to a user, only one email address, ie his own assigned member channel, eg ([Member Channel] @ [username ] [Domain]) or ([member channel]. [Username] @ [domain] is used / required.

The object is further a system for preventing a user from receiving unwanted electronic communication items such as messages from external entities,
(A) a server or other electronic processing / storage means for receiving incoming electronic communication items from the external entity;
(B) an inbox for receiving the user's received electronic communication items;
(C) a challenge / response means such as a database or other electronic processing / storage means for sending a challenge such as a question to the external entity;
(D) means for receiving a response to the challenge from the external entity;
(E) a determining means for determining whether an accepted response has been received during the challenge / response procedure;
With
Upon receipt of the response by the determination means, the electronic communication item is configured to be delivered to the inbox.
Achieved by the system.

  The various means included in the system are, for example, at a service provider that provides the services achieved by the method and system according to the present invention, or alternatively by the user himself (eg, the user is a large company, organization, etc.) As a part of a centrally located server. However, it is understood that the various components of the system can be provided in different physical locations if it is deemed advantageous.

Circle Objectives and Benefits A number of important advantages are achieved through the use of the method and system according to the present invention.
* Allow users to seamlessly respond to existing email and web technologies via email.
* Allow users to use and automatically assign individual email addresses for each member without having to do anything other than email communications.
* Give users a thread-based mail processing method, thus providing an overview of the conversation.
An important result of using the method and system according to the present invention is that the user receives spam emails or other junk emails or messages received at his email address or other access address for his electronic communication system. When noticed, allows the user to determine exactly who the user's email or other address was originally given, and thus to detect at least one member through which spam / messages have passed It is to become.
* Effectively stop users from spamming spam addresses again if they are spam.
* This allows the user to freely display contact information / user's email address on web pages and print media without opening up the possibility of mechanical misuse of this contact information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The method and system according to the present invention, together with various effects and advantages achieved thereby, will be more fully understood by reference to the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. I will.
FIG. 1 shows a new method and system according to an embodiment of the invention during a “subscription session” performed when a new user wishes to subscribe to a service provided by the method and system according to the invention. Fig. 5 shows a "create new user" screen presented on the user's display screen.
FIG. 2 shows the questions and corresponding answers used in the challenge / response procedure according to the present invention presented on the display screen of a new user of the method and system according to an embodiment of the present invention during a “subscription session”. Shows a setup page with fields for user definition.
FIG. 3 shows the setup page of FIG. 2 further describing a challenge / response procedure according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 shows the setup page of FIG. 2 further describing details of the challenge / response procedure according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 shows the setup page of FIG. 2 further describing details of the challenge / response procedure according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 shows the setup page of FIG. 2 further describing details of the challenge / response procedure according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 shows the review information provided to the user during the “enrollment session” of the method and system according to the present invention, including the new email address given to the user.
FIG. 8 shows further review information provided to the user during a “subscription session”.
FIG. 9 illustrates a website for accessing a challenge / response procedure of the present invention that a new potential member (sender) receives when sending an email to a user of the method and system of the present invention for the first time. Shows the first page, including instructions.
FIG. 10 illustrates a question presented to a potential new member during a challenge / response procedure according to the present invention.
FIG. 11 illustrates the effect of providing the correct response with the challenge / response procedure of FIG. 10, ie, the e-mail passes through a review for delivery to the user of the method and system of the present invention, and a member channel is provided to the new member. Indicates that
FIG. 12 shows a start page according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention provided to a member, including an alternative challenge / response procedure according to the present invention.
FIG. 13 shows an e-mail address, that is, you @ mrspamstopper. Figure 2 shows a schematic representation of the effects of the method and system according to the invention experienced by a user.

  The following is a description of various detailed embodiments of the method and system according to the present invention, but the invention outlined in the present disclosure without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. It is understood that other embodiments of the basic concept are possible.

  As described above in accordance with the basic concept of the present invention, the user has one common email address and not all senders send email to ([username] @ [domain]), but to the user via email. Each member to be accessed is assigned a unique mail address (member channel) for the user. The unique mail address according to the present invention is, for example, ([Member Channel] @ [User Name]. [Domain]) or [Member Channel]. [User name] @ [Domain] format (notation) can be used. The particular format of the email address is not critical per se, but rather each member according to the invention is assigned a unique member channel for the user, which member channel is specified in the email address itself.

  In the following detailed description, a new user subscribes to / becomes a service provided by the method and system according to the present invention with the primary purpose of preventing the user from receiving unwanted emails. Including a subscription session if you wish to Various steps performed by a potential new user during a subscription session will be described with reference to FIGS. After the description of the joining session, the functions of the method and system according to the present invention experienced by a person (potential new member) trying to communicate for the first time with a user who subscribes to the method and system according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. This will be described with reference to FIG. The experience of a user subscribing to the method and system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Finally, the system according to the present invention will be described in general terms with reference to FIGS. Throughout the following detailed description, the specific embodiments described herein are collectively referred to as “Mr. Spamstopper”. The functionality provided by the method and system according to the present invention can in fact be realized using many different hardware and software implementations, all of which are claimed in the appended claims. It is included in the range.

1. Subscription session (the user wishes to subscribe to the service provided by the method / system of the present invention, in short called “Mista Spam Stopper”)
In the following, the various graphical information presented should be considered as merely examples of the layout of such information, and these presentations will vary depending on the particular implementation of the method and system according to the present invention. It is understood that

  Access to the Mister Spam Stopper can be achieved, for example, via a suitable home page on the Internet (http://flue4.com in this example) or via a corresponding email connection. Upon opening this home page or establishing this connection, the potential user of the service will see three fields on the display screen, generally referred to by reference numeral 10 in FIG. Presents the “Create New User” screen, which includes Username field 3 which is the email address of the new user that Spam Stopper can contact the user there, and two fields 4 and 5 containing the user-defined password Is done. Optionally, the user can also show his full name in field 6 and a backup email address in field 7. The contents of the field can be erased by the clear icon 8. Next, when the continuation icon 9 is pressed, a setup screen for the mister spam stopper shown in FIG. 2 is presented to the user.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the user is then presented with a short description of the functionality of the Mister Spam Stopper. The main feature is that the Mister Spam Stopper is someone, perhaps a person, or possibly another entity, such as an automatic entity, a PC program, or other computer-based device that intentionally creates spam for a user And the question (so-called challenge) that this person or entity asks when sending mail to a user for the first time via e-mail (eg after explaining communication via e-mail with a user who has subscribed to the Mister Spam Stopper) / Question used in response procedure) by the user. At the current stage of the enrollment session, the user must provide this question to Mr. Spam Stopper when the person or other entity later addresses the user for the first time with the address defined in field 3 above. You have to answer it. By providing questions and corresponding correct answers, the user can select the level of spam protection he / she desires, as further described in FIGS. In the method and system according to the present invention, the user can thus select different levels of spam protection as required by selecting among different types of questions and correct answers in a challenge / response procedure. A typical example of such a question can be obtained by clicking on the field “Refer to question example” (field 11). The user can even protect other addresses with the method and system of the present invention while maintaining a fully open email address.

  As one example, a company keeps its main email address shown on its home page open to receive emails freely, while the method and system according to the present invention allows, for example, “Mista Spam Stopper”. , The email addresses of individual employees of the company can be protected from receiving unwanted emails.

  According to a specific scenario, the sender of the e-mail for one of these individual users would like to thank the text “XXX / e-mail to the company, followed by the company logo after sending the e-mail. For the above reasons, please fill in the blank fields shown below before receiving your email.

  Enter your company name in the blank field [].

Thereafter, the designated user “XXX” receives the e-mail, and the sender is, for example,
“XXX has received your email now. We can usually get back to you within 1 to 3 business days of receipt. You can also contact 1234678 by phone. Can contact XXX directly at the following email address: rstef.XXX@company.com.
Thank you.
XXX / Company "
Receive an email containing

  Returning to FIG. 2, the user-defined question is entered in field 12 and the corresponding correct answer defined by the user is entered in field 13.

  As indicated above, the level of protection provided by the method and system according to the present invention can be defined by the user. This is illustrated in connection with FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6.

  For example, clicking on protection level # 1 (blocks spammers but allows anyone else to pass through) displays the example shown in FIG. 4 with reference numeral 16 on the screen. The question can be, for example, “What is the third word in this sentence?” And the corresponding correct answer is “the”. Another question can be "What color is the sky?" And the corresponding correct answer is "blue".

  Similarly, if you click on protection level # 2 (only pass on the sender of the acquaintance), the example question / answer shown in FIG. 5, “What is my brother's name?” And “John”, and “ "What color is my house?" And "Red" are each shown on the display screen.

  Finally, as shown in FIG. 6, clicking on protection level # 3 (pass only invitees), the example question / answer shown in FIG. 6, ie “What is the secret cipher?” And “Monkey” "Business" and "Tell me your password" and "Strobe" are each shown on the display screen.

  After defining the question and the correct answer as described above, the user clicks the continue icon 14 and the display shown in FIG. 7 is displayed.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the display screen generally referenced at 19 contains review information including the user's new email address (the address protected from unwanted email reception by the method and system according to the present invention). Including. This address is shown in field 20. Clicking on the creation icon 21 then activates the creation of the desired subscription to the service provided by the method and system according to the invention.

  Finally, as shown in FIG. 8, some additional information regarding the effectiveness / use of the method and system of the present invention is provided to the user.

2. Functions and methods of a system ("Mista Spam Stopper") experienced by someone (person or other entity) trying to send an e-mail for the first time to a user subscribed to "Mista Spam Stopper" Referring to FIG. E-mail from Mr. Spam Stopper to the user: MrX @ free4. The response to someone (new email sender) who first tried to send to com (recipient) is shown. In FIG. 9, the new e-mail sender sends an e-mail regarding the requirement “Re Test (flue4)” to the user (recipient): MrX @ flue4. com. Send to. As a result, the new e-mail sender will receive the message shown in Figure 9, ie, "You have received an e-mail from MrX@free4.com from you. The e-mail must be verified before it can be delivered to the recipient. Receive. As shown, the new e-mail sender can be found on the website: http: // www. full4. com / challenge /? When id = 262 (reference number 24) is instructed and the website is visited, the sender next receives the screen 25 shown in FIG. A question (originally defined by the user as described above), “What color is the sky?” Is presented in field 26 and the answer that the sender believes is correct, “blue” is shown in field 27. He then clicks icon 28 (“Send Reply”). Assuming that the answer is correct, the sender then receives the screen screen 26 shown in FIG. 11 which points out that “the mail has passed the review” (69) in this case. According to this embodiment of the method and system of the present invention, the method / system (ie, “Mister Spam Stopper”) is a specific member channel or figure applied by the sender for subsequent contact with the user. 11 select “qpa.mrx@free4.com” as indicated by 70. At this stage of the procedure, the current email is further distributed to the user (recipient) by the “Mister Spam Stopper”.

  However, in an alternative embodiment of the method and system according to the present invention, the sender himself can define the name of this member channel so that the sender can remember the name of his member channel. May be advantageous to do.

  As an alternative to the screen screen shown in FIGS. 9-11, a start page 71 shown in FIG. 12 can be implemented in accordance with the present invention. In many respects, the same information as in the procedure performed as described above in connection with FIGS. 9-11 can be obtained between the sender and the “Mister Spam Stopper” using the interface means shown in FIG. Delivered. However, an alternative challenge / response procedure according to the present invention is illustrated in connection with FIG. However, it is understood that this procedure, or even any other related challenge / response procedure, can equally be implemented using the procedure described in FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the question in the challenge / response procedure according to this embodiment of the present invention is the image 34 presented to the sender on the start page 71 shown in FIG. 12, depicting a horse in this example. Related. The sender's response is assisted in the illustrated embodiment by the presentation of a list of options 35 accessible on the start page, such as “Brown Horse, Black Bull, White Dog, etc.”. After selecting what the sender believes to be the correct answer, the button 36 is pressed and the procedure proceeds in principle as outlined above in the description of the invention in FIGS. 9-11.

  The challenge / response procedure can further alternatively rely on non-image access information. Thus, for example, the display of an image of a brown horse in FIG. 12 can be replaced with the occurrence of a selected audio signal that is well known to the average human, eg, a female singing voice, and the corresponding question is what this voice is. The answer (with possible assistance) may be “This is a female singing voice”.

  Other items other than the challenge / response related items in the contact page shown in FIG. 12 and the effects of their use will be described below.

Official welcome text An area where the service provider of the system can write the standard instruction "What is this?"

Personal welcome text This is the end user, "Hello, welcome. Please send written under" is an area that can be inserted into the personal information, such as. Probably also includes a company logo, a link to the home page, and a personal image.

Business field 29
This forms a requirement field (topic) in the email sent to the user's forum.

Message field 30
This forms a message field in the email sent as a posting in the user's forum.

Attached file field 31 by browser
This provides an opportunity for the sender of the initial mail to attach the file or files to the user's forum posting.

Name field 32
Required field: Sender name or avatar name.

Email address field 33
Required field: Sender's email address.

Send a copy of the email to my own email address Send a copy of the email to the email address provided by the contact.
In the current embodiment, pressing “OK-Send Mail to Frits” causes the following:
mr testerson @ frits. full4. com is created as a new mail address in the mail server.

Mr. Testerson marked “Send a copy to me”, so the written email will be at testerson @ democompanv. com .

The source address of this is mr testerson @ frits. full4. com , Mr. Testerson can respond to this and contact Fritz (the user).

  This initial contact is (unless you choose to stop / disconnect the Fritz-formed channel; in that case, Mr. Testerson will reconnect to the page and ask you to enter a new name for this new channel. Mr. Testerson, frits. full4. This is the only time you have to contact Fritz through com.

Probably added to the top of this initial mail:
----- blue4. automatically generated by the com spam-free robot -----
Testerson-sama, you are a blue4. The email was sent to Fritz using the com patent spam-free email system.
Below is a copy of the email you sent to Fritz.

The email address you can use to send emails to Fritz in the future is: mr testerson @ frits. full4. com . This is your personal and confidential email address for writing emails to Fritz. Anyone else who wants to contact Fritz, frits @ frits. full4. You can do this through com . Thank you very much.
--- fiue4. The end of automatic generation by com spam-free robots ----

  Testerson will be created as a new member of the forum where Fritz logs on to read and write mail.

3. Functions of the Method and System According to the Present Invention (“Mista Spam Stopper”) Experienced by the User Referring to FIG. 13, the e-mail address: you @ mrspamstopper. A schematic illustration of the effects of the method and system according to the invention experienced by a user with com is shown. In the figure, the central area 59 schematically shows the user, and the circular area 58 surrounding 1 shows the function of the method and system according to the invention (“Mister Spam Stopper”), ie the initially defined “circle”. This area includes the hardware and software represented symbolically by box 38 in FIG. 13 necessary to implement the various functions of the method and system of the present invention. The outer region 57 shows “the rest of the world”, including senders who wish to communicate with the user via email. In connection with reference numeral 37, the sender is the user you @ mrspamstopper. com is sent an e-mail so that the sender is presented with the challenge response 39 as described above. On the premise that the sender gives a correct answer, an individual mail channel is formed at 41, thus effectively preventing the reception of unnecessary mail from the sender.

  For example, to assign a user's address to a newsletter, use a browser plug-in to subscribe to some service or create a profile on the Internet, and on the page as indicated by reference numeral 43 An address (channel) can be inserted into it, thereby creating a channel at 44, and then a database on the Internet where they can send mail to the user as long as the user accepts it. it can.

  In connection with reference numeral 48, the user can send an email to an external recipient in the usual manner through the method and system of the present invention. If the recipient already has a channel (49), the recipient receives a normal email from the user to the recipient's address with the channel address as the sender of the email (51). If the recipient does not already have a channel, a channel is created (50).

  The recipient can forward your email to someone else to respond (automatic response) (52), and then someone else responds to your email (53). Upon entering the service provided by the method and system of the present invention, the channel is recognized (54), the mail is passed (55), and the resulting incoming mail reply from others (56) is not at all normal. Similarly, experienced by the user.

  As indicated by reference numeral 60, the receiver, however, may leak the channel to a spammer (the channel that the receiver knows is the only information that the receiver can leak), or alternatively In effect, the recipient begins to send you emails that you do not want. Also, in this case, the channel is recognized by the method and system of the present invention (61), but in this case, it is actually displayed (63, 64) who has leaked your address (channel) to the spammer, for example, The Mister Spam Stopper icon indicated by reference numeral 72 in FIG. 2 (reference numeral 65 in FIG. 13) can be clicked, and the effect is that the channel and mail are deleted (66). After this, this address no longer exists, so no one can use it again (67), so no one can offer you spam, and the newsletter will be dealt with. It is done. If someone tries to send an email to the deleted channel (68), he is again presented with the challenge / response procedure of the present invention, and provided the correct answer, a new channel is created, which he described above Can send email to you again.

  In summary, users of the Mister Spam Stopper service generally experience email communications with a similar environment world, but the additional ability to block spam and other unwanted mail items, and such mail Has the ability to detect where an item came from.

  Finally, an extended embodiment of the method and system according to the invention is shown. According to the embodiment, a user or larger organization (eg, company or institution) opens more doors to the surrounding world via the method and system of the present invention (“Mista Spam Stopper”). Can do. Consider the following scenario: A company wants to provide its employees with spam-protected e-mail, but wants to be able to receive unsolicited junk mail through a “back door” for a certain period of time. I hope. The user can therefore define himself his questions used in the challenge / response procedure according to the invention, but can also provide a “universal access key” that allows anyone access. This key can be controlled and changed in the center as many times as necessary, so that nothing changes except for the “keyhole”.

  “Generic access” can also take the form of code written in ancillary data that comes with e-mail, for example, which is not visible to the user. This means that if the email contains this encoded information (eg, only 6 characters in the email header), the email will pass directly without a challenge response. This code can be further modified centrally or according to a setup selected by the user. Thus, for example, a mail institution in a country can provide non-spam e-mail, where only those with an account can sell such “generic keys” to commercial providers, for example, Commercials can be delivered. Furthermore, the “generic key” can be reset after use.

  Furthermore, in yet another embodiment of the method and system according to the present invention, the user can have a greater number of questions or a larger number of answers, e.g. "What is your inquiry about?" In addition to receiving the response, it is also sent to the appropriate place in the company.

Basically, a system for preventing users from receiving unwanted electronic communication items such as messages from external entities can be realized using the following technical features / functional blocks, It is understood that the features / blocks of can be realized by other means and still be within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
(A) A server or other electronic processing / storage means for receiving incoming electronic communication items from the external entity.
(B) An inbox for receiving the user's received electronic communication items.
(C) Challenge / response means such as a database or other electronic processing / storage means for sending a challenge, such as a question, to the external entity.
(D) Means for receiving a response to the challenge from the external entity.
(E) A determining means for determining whether an acceptable response has been received during the challenge / response procedure.

  By applying this system, an electronic communication item, such as an email, is passed on the user's inbox after acceptance by the determining means of a response from an external entity, eg, a person sending the email to the user.

  It should be noted that the term “inbox” should be interpreted broadly and, of course, other suitable reception / display means may exist at the user.

Further examples of use of the method and system of the present invention and / or results of use
Example 1:
Someone wants to send an email to the user and has only a blind sender address or subdomain as contact information.

  Sending an email to a blind sender address ([username] @ [username]. [Domain]) does not create a notification to the user, but the system generates an autoresponder email to the contact .

  The automatic response e-mail received when mail is sent to the blind sender address holds information on how to reach the user contact page (http: // [username]. [Domain]).

  Alternatively, the autoresponder email itself is in HTML format and includes the functionality of the user contact page (http: // [username]. [Domain]), thus minimizing contact effort.

  Entering the user contact page (http: // [user name]. [Domain]) leads to activation of the functionality of the page.

Example 2:
Someone sends mail to an email address that has been suspended / disconnected by the user.

  If the channel is stopped / disconnected by the user, this email address has functionality like a blind sender email address ([username] @ [username]. [Domain]).

Example 3:
A user wants to publish or link contact information to a web page / business card (contact method) or the like.

  The user can use “blind sender address” [user name] @ [user name]. You can choose to publish or link the Domain.

  The user can use http: // address [username]. You can choose to publish or link the Domain.

Example 4:
A user wishes to send a new email to someone who is already a member / has a channel to the user's circle.

  The user logs on to the bulletin board.

  The user creates a new topic on the bulletin board in the desired part of the forum (where the thread is started and continued).

  When writing a new topic to the forum, the user selects which member of the forum will be the recipient of the message.

  The system sends an e-mail with the forum posting as the e-mail content to the e-mail address of the member.

Example 5:
A user wishes to send an email to someone who is not a member / no channel in the user's circle.

  The user logs on to the bulletin board.

  The user creates a new topic on the bulletin board in the desired part of the forum (where the thread is started and continued).

  Alternatively, to enter a forum member as a recipient, the user enters the recipient's email address and optionally provides further information on the channel / member being created.

  The system automatically creates new forum members based on user input.

  The system sends an email with the forum posting as the content of the email to the new member's email address.

Example 6:
The user wishes to assign an email address to a mechanical part, such as a newsletter, or for membership purposes.

  Users log on to the bulletin board or use other limited methods to access system functions.

  The user enters at least the name of the channel, for example "Newsletter".

  The user can add more information to the channel describing its purpose, attention, image, etc.

Based on user input
The system creates a new member of the bulletin board.
The name of the member is provided by the user.
Further details provided by the user further describe the member.
The system sends a new email address [entered name] @ [username]. Create [Domain].

  The system provides the user with an email address assigned to the mechanical part.

Example 7:
Users and members write multiple emails with the same subject / same thread.

  When the system receives a new email, the subject line is automatically parsed before the email is automatically posted to the forum.

  The system looks at the last part of the subject line and matches it against existing forum topics. In practice, this means that if there is a posting in the forum with the title "Our Holidays ~" and a new email is received with the subject line "Requirements: Our Holidays ~" Stripped, meaning that the email is entered as a new posting on the topic “Our Holidays”.

  The result for the user is that all topics are threaded in the forum.

  Other such “stripping” techniques can be used to provide users with a well-functioning forum experience.

  By default, members who write new topics (or newly created mail channels) can be assigned to fall into forum categories such as “private”, “work”, “family”, and the like.

Example 8:
The user receives unwanted email / spam.
In a given example using a system similar to phpBB, each forum post will be next to the bulletin board member information. In addition to this, the system has an extra button to delete unwanted emails and delete channels.

  As a result, the channel can be stopped next to all received mail.

  When this button is clicked, the mail address used by the sender is “blinded”, forum members are deleted, and unnecessary bulletins / emails are deleted.

  The user can no longer be contacted through this email address, and thus the spammer activity for this user is effectively terminated.

  The user can see this because it is built into the channel who originally created the problematic email address or who was originally given it.

Example 9:
A mechanical attempt is made to “intrude” the user's circle.
In the user's contact page, a number of short-term false guesses (often called “brute force attacks”) from one source (IP address) leads to an automatic mechanical block on the connection side.

A new user display screen of the method and system according to an embodiment of the present invention during a "subscription session" performed when a new user wishes to subscribe to a service provided by the method and system according to the present invention Shows the “Create New User” screen. For user definition of questions and corresponding answers used in the challenge / response procedure according to the present invention presented on the display screen of a new user of the method and system according to embodiments of the present invention during a "subscription session" Shows the setup page that contains the fields. Fig. 3 shows the setup page of Fig. 2 further describing a challenge / response procedure according to the invention. Fig. 3 shows the setup page of Fig. 2 further describing details of the challenge / response procedure according to the invention. Fig. 3 shows the setup page of Fig. 2 further describing details of the challenge / response procedure according to the invention. Fig. 3 shows the setup page of Fig. 2 further describing details of the challenge / response procedure according to the invention. Fig. 4 shows review information provided to a user during a "subscription session" of the method and system according to the present invention, including a new email address given to the user. Fig. 5 shows further review information provided to the user during a "subscription session". Including instructions to a website to access the challenge / response procedure of the present invention that a new potential member (sender) receives when sending an email for the first time to a user of the method and system of the present invention; The first page is shown. Fig. 4 illustrates a question presented to a potential new member during a challenge / response procedure according to the present invention. FIG. 10 illustrates the effect of providing the correct response with the challenge / response procedure, ie, the e-mail passes through a review for delivery to a user of the method and system of the present invention, and a member channel is provided to the new member. . Fig. 5 shows a start page according to an alternative embodiment of the invention provided to a member, including an alternative challenge / response procedure according to the invention. E-mail address, that is you @ mrspamstopper. Figure 2 shows a schematic representation of the effects of the method and system according to the invention experienced by a user.

Claims (15)

  A method for preventing the reception of unwanted electronic communication items, such as messages from an external entity such as a person or user machine, wherein each of said entities communicates with a user in accordance with the method. A method that is initially given a unique address or member channel for.   The method of claim 1, wherein the item is an email.   The method of claim 2, wherein the address is an email address.   The method of claim 1, wherein the unique email address or member channel for the user is specified within the email address itself.   The unique mail address or member channel is [member channel] @ [user name]. [Domain], [Member channel]. 5. The method according to claim 4, which is in the form [user name] @ [domain] or [member channel] @ [user address].   The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the unique email address or member channel is assigned to the external entity only after a satisfactory answer by the external entity to a request defined by a user.   The method of claim 6, wherein the user-defined request is a challenge / response procedure.   The method according to claim 1, wherein the unique address is defined by a user.   The method according to claim 1, wherein the unique address is defined by the external entity.   The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the user-defined request or challenge response includes a plurality of user-defined protection levels for protection against receipt of the unwanted electronic communication item.   The method according to claim 7 or 10, wherein the challenge / response procedure consists of a question presented to the external entity when the external entity tries to send the electronic communication item to a user for the first time.   11. A method according to claim 7 or 10, wherein the challenge / response procedure includes image or graphic information presented to the external entity when the external entity attempts to contact a user for the first time via email.   11. A method according to claim 7 or 10, wherein the challenge / response procedure comprises an audio signal presented to the external entity when the external entity attempts to contact a user for the first time via email.   11. A method according to claim 7 or 10, wherein the challenge / response procedure comprises a code presented to the external entity when the external entity tries to contact a user for the first time via email. A system for preventing a user from receiving unwanted electronic communication items such as messages from external entities,
(F) a server or other electronic processing / storage means for receiving incoming electronic communication items from said external entity;
(G) an inbox for receiving the user's received electronic communication items;
(H) a challenge / response means such as a database or other electronic processing / storage means for sending a challenge, such as a question to the external entity;
(I) means for receiving a response to the challenge from the external entity;
(J) a determining means for determining whether an accepted response has been received during the challenge / response procedure;
With
A system wherein the electronic communication item is delivered to the inbox upon receipt of the response by the determining means.