Addressee-defined mail addressing system and method

Abstract

A mail delivery system and method for delivery of mail to addressees are disclosed. The system is particularly suitable for implementation in the context of an email or similar electronic messaging system, and is particularly useful for managing and/or discouraging unsolicited junk mail. The system comprises a plurality of unique delivery addresses, each for a corresponding addressee, and a plurality of delivery codes. The delivery codes are generally defined or otherwise controlled by the addressees, with each addressee controlling a specific subset of the delivery codes. Any given delivery code does not comprise a unique delivery address or any essential portion thereof, and instead comprises distinct, essentially arbitrary addressee-controlled information. The method comprises addressing a selected piece of the mail with a selected delivery address, and associating a selected delivery code with the selected delivery address of the piece of mail. The selected delivery code may be (and from the mail sender's viewpoint, preferably is) one defined by the addressee of the particular piece of mail. The method further comprises delivering the piece of mail to the addressee if the delivery address is associated with a valid delivery code defined by the addressee, and dispatching the piece of mail as directed by the addressee, if it does not have a valid, addressee-defined delivery code. For example, mail lacking a valid delivery code may be deleted or destroyed without delivering to the addressee. The system further comprises means for performing steps of the method, such as an application operable in a computer memory.

1 - 25 . (canceled) 
   
   
       26 . A computer-readable medium containing instructions operable with a computer to:
 receive user-defined codes associated with an electronic mail account that are not used to specify the electronic mail account by a mail server for the electronic mail account;   place the user-defined codes as distinct from and prefixed to a root delivery address specifying the electronic mail account in respective return-address fields of outgoing electronic mail messages, so that each of the codes comprises a dot-separated character-based prefix to the root delivery address and appears to be part of an apparent subdivided SMTP address for the electronic mail account;   receive incoming electronic mail addressed to apparent subdivided SMTP addresses including the root delivery address; and   place respective pieces of the electronic mail in respective incoming mail folders indicated by respective ones of the user-defined codes for the electronic mail account.   
   
   
       27 . The computer-readable medium according to  claim 26 , wherein the instructions are further operable to receive electronic mail addressed to only the root delivery address without any one of the user-defined codes. 
   
   
       28 . The computer-readable medium according to  claim 27 , wherein the instructions are further operable to place respective pieces of the electronic mail addressed to only the root delivery address without any one of the user-defined codes in a default folder for the electronic mail account. 
   
   
       29 . The computer-readable medium according to  claim 26 , wherein the instructions are further operable to place respective pieces of the electronic mail addressed to apparent subdivided SMTP addresses including the root delivery address that lack any valid one of the user-defined codes in a default folder for the electronic mail account. 
   
   
       30 . The computer-readable medium according to  claim 26 , wherein the instructions are further operable to provide a holder for the electronic mail account with an option to define the plurality of user-defined codes. 
   
   
       31 . The computer-readable medium according to  claim 30 , wherein the instructions are further operable to provide a holder for the electronic mail account with an option to invalidate any of the plurality of user-defined codes. 
   
   
       32 . The computer-readable medium according to  claim 26 , wherein the instructions are further operable to discard respective pieces of the electronic mail addressed to apparent subdivided SMTP addresses including the root delivery address that lack any valid one of the user-defined codes. 
   
   
       33 . The computer-readable medium according to  claim 26 , wherein the instructions are further operable to place the user-defined codes in the respective return-address fields comprising “from” fields. 
   
   
       34 . The computer-readable medium according to  claim 26 , wherein the instructions are further operable to place the user-defined codes in the respective return-address fields comprising “reply-to” fields. 
   
   
       35 . A computer-implemented method, comprising:
 receiving user-defined codes associated with an electronic mail account that are not used to specify the electronic mail account by a mail server for the electronic mail account;   placing the user-defined codes as distinct from and prefixed to a root delivery address specifying the electronic mail account in respective return-address fields of outgoing electronic mail messages, so that each of the codes comprises a dot-separated character-based prefix to the root delivery address and appears to be part of an apparent subdivided SMTP address for the electronic mail account;   receiving incoming electronic mail addressed to apparent subdivided SMTP addresses including the root delivery address; and   placing respective pieces of the electronic mail in respective incoming mail folders indicated by respective ones of the user-defined codes for the electronic mail account, at the mail client.   
   
   
       36 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising receiving electronic mail addressed to only the root delivery address without any one of the user-defined codes. 
   
   
       37 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising placing respective pieces of the electronic mail addressed to only the root delivery address without any one of the user-defined codes in a default folder for the electronic mail account. 
   
   
       38 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising placing respective pieces of the electronic mail addressed to apparent subdivided SMTP addresses including the root delivery address that lack any valid one of the user-defined codes in a default folder for the electronic mail account. 
   
   
       39 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising providing a holder for the electronic mail account with an option to define the plurality of user-defined codes. 
   
   
       40 . The method of  claim 39 , further comprising providing a holder of the electronic mail account with an option to invalidate any of the plurality of user-defined codes. 
   
   
       41 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising discarding respective pieces of the electronic mail addressed to apparent subdivided SMTP addresses including the root delivery address that lack any valid one of the user-defined codes. 
   
   
       42 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising placing the user-defined codes in the respective return-address fields comprising “from” fields. 
   
   
       43 . The method of  claim 35 , further comprising placing the user-defined codes in the respective return-address fields comprising “reply-to” fields. 
   
   
       44 . A method for disposition of electronic mail, comprising:
 reading a delivery address associated with a piece of mail, wherein the address comprises a root delivery address of the addressee for the piece and a delivery code defined by the addressee;   extracting the root delivery address and the delivery code;   actuating a software process identified by the root address;   processing the delivery code using the software process; and   updating a user account based on the contents of the delivery code.   
   
   
       45 . The method according to  claim 44 , wherein the delivery code and root delivery address are encoded together using a formula that permits them to be separated within the software process. 
   
   
       46 . The method according to  claim 44 , wherein the delivery code is a dot-separated character-based prefix to the root delivery address that appears to be part of an apparent subdivided SMTP address for the electronic mail account. 
   
   
       47 . The method according to  claim 44 , wherein information sufficient to uniquely identify an account is embedded within the delivery code. 
   
   
       48 . The method according to  claim 44 , wherein at least one instruction executable by the software process is embedded within the delivery code 
   
   
       49 . A method for addressing of electronic mail, comprising:
 reading a delivery address associated with a piece of mail, wherein the address comprises a root delivery address of the addressee for the piece and a delivery code defined by the addressee and wherein the delivery code is a dot-separated character-based prefix to the root delivery address that appears to be part of an apparent subdivided SMTP address for the electronic mail account;   comparing the delivery code to a list of permitted delivery codes; and   delivering the electronic mail to the addressee if the delivery code is on the list of permitted delivery codes.   
   
   
       50 . The method according to  claim 49 , wherein the attempted delivery of the electronic mail is rejected during a Simple Message Transfer Protocol session if the delivery code is not on the list of permitted delivery codes. 
   
   
       51 . The method according to  claim 50 , wherein the rejection is made by transmitting a code indicating that the electronic mail address does not exist. 
   
   
       52 . The method according to  claim 49 , wherein the electronic mail is delivered to a secondary location if the delivery code is not on the list of permitted delivery codes. 
   
   
       53 . The method according to  claim 49 , wherein the electronic mail is returned to the sender as undeliverable if the delivery code is not on the list of permitted delivery codes. 
   
   
       54 . The method according to  claim 49 , wherein the electronic mail is returned to the sender with a warning that the delivery code is invalid if the delivery code is not on the list of permitted delivery codes. 
   
   
       55 . A method for addressing of electronic mail, comprising:
 reading a delivery address associated with a piece of mail, wherein the address comprises a root delivery address of the addressee for the piece and a delivery code defined by the addressee and wherein the delivery code is a dot-separated character-based prefix to the root delivery address that appears to be part of an apparent subdivided SMTP address for the electronic mail account;   retrieving disposition instructions from a database corresponding to the delivery code;   disposing of the electronic mail in accordance with the delivery instructions.   
   
   
       56 . The method according to  claim 55 , wherein the delivery instructions are defined by the addressee.