Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IDENTIFYING, MANAGING, AND
CONTROLLING COMMUNICATIONS
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001 ] This application claims priority to United States Provisional No.
60/452,369, entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IDENTIFYING, MANAGING,
AND CONTROLLING COMMUNICATIONS," naming John R. Klug as inventor and filed
on March 5, 2003, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
This application
is also related to co-pending United States applications identified by serial
nos. 10/673,073
and 10/673,107, also entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR IDENTIFYING,
MANAGING, AND CONTROLLING COMMUNICATIONS," naming John R. Klug as
inventor and filed on September 27, 2003, the entirety of which are also
incorporated herein
by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Technical Field
[0003] The inventive field relates to the field of information interchange
between
two or more users of computing and/or telecommunications devices. More
specifically, at
least one embodiment of the present invention relates to the inventive field
of electronic
communications, one type of such communications being cormnonly referred to as
e-mail
communications, and to apparatuses and/or processes for categorizing,
identifying,
communicating, routing, prioritizing, and/or discouraging unwanted
communications.
[0004] 2. Background Art
[0005] Commonly today, users of computing and/or telecommunications devices
often receive untold numbers of communications from various persons, entities
and/or
automated systems. Many of such communications are unwanted and are often
considered
undesirable by recipients and others for various reasons. In addition, users
of commercially
provided, corporate provided and/or individually provided electronic mail ("e-
mail")
accounts receive dozens, or even hundreds,. of unwanted e-mail communications
daily.
Regardless of whether an e-mail account is provided by MICROSOFT (e.g. via
their MSN
and/or HOTMAIL services), YAHOO (e.g. via its web-based e-mail services), or
via various
corporate e-mail services and/or applications (for example, via a Microsoft
Exchange Server
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connected to a desktop and/or other computing device on which an e-mail
application, such
as MICROSOFT OLTTLOOI~, and/or other desktop applications may be running), e-
mail
communication users (and user of other forms of communications) are subjected
daily to
numerous unwanted e-mails/communications. These unwanted e-
mails/communications are
often commercial solicitations in which the recipient has little if any
interest, and are
commonly referred to as "seam," "mass e-mails," or the like. Today, seam makes
up a
significant percentage of all e-mail traffic. The amount of spam e-mail users
receive today
has led many users to simply stop using e-mail as a communications medium.
[0006] Similarly, users and facilitators of instant messaging services ("IM"),
short
messaging services or protocols ("SMS/SMP"), voice mails, voice communications
and
telemarketing calls, faxes and other forms of printed communications, video
communications
(for example, those some day available over digital television mediums such as
high
definition television and/or digital cable/satellite systems), graphical
communications (e.g.,
pop-up advertisements) and other communication mediums are also often
inundated with
unwanted communications. The continual inundation of recipients with unwanted
communications have led to the widespread adoption of various systems and
devices, such as
caller identification systems, e-mail filters, no-call lists and others, which
are utilized to
minimize, reduce and/or prevent such intrusions. Thus, the very aspects of e-
mails other
forms of electronic communications which make such mediums appealing are
quickly
becoming nuisances.
[0007] For many forms of communications, simple technical or regulatory
solutions to minimizing such nuisances may not be readily available. For
example, with
regards to e-mail and in particular spam, one of the essential characteristics
of seam, which
malces it so widespread and pervasive, derives from the very nature of the
communications
medium it is utilizing. As anyone who has ever "surfed" the Internet or sent
an e-mail
commonly appreciates, the costs in equipment and services needed to send an e-
mail are quite
minimal.
[0008] Further, minimal system resources and a valid electronic address are
commonly all that is needed to effectively communicate seam to a recipient. A
spammer
(that is, one who sends or distributes seam) generally need not sort the spam
by geographical
region, zip codes, area codes or otherwise. Instead, the Internet itself
provides the routing
and "sorting" necessary to communicate e-mails/communications to multiple
recipients,
wherever they may be in the world. Additionally, since many recipients prefer
to use
e-mail/communication addresses that are easy for others (such as their
business contacts and
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friends) to remember, often e-mail/communication addresses are quite
predictable and, hence,
valid electronic addresses are easily obtainable.
[0009] Thus, it is to be appreciated that there is a tremendous need for
systems
and processes which ease the burden upon Internet service providers ("ISPs"),
recipients, and
others in identifying, controlling, disseminating and/or receiving
communications in general
and e-mail communications and/or other types of electronic communications and
seam in
particular.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[00010] Generally, one embodiment of the invention comprises a method for
franlcing a communication. Generally, the method comprises selecting a frank
associated
with a value from among a plurality of frank types, each of the franlc types
having a pre-
assigned value, associating the frank with the communication, and initiating
transmission of
the franlced communication across a networlc. Value may include anything
important of
having meaning to the parties, including, for example, money, credit (or a
promise to pay),
frequent flier miles, and so forth. "Franlcing" a communication generally
associates some
indicia of value and/or a service class with a communication.
[00011] Franked communications may be sent by a sender and received by a
recipient. Generally, such franlced communications may be received and
processed by
determining whether the communication includes a frank corresponding to a
value, in
response to determining the communication does not include a frank, processing
the
communication according to at least one default rule, otherwise determining a
service class to
which the frank corresponds, and in response to determining the service class
to which the
frank corresponds, processing the communication according to at least one
service class-
based rule.
[00012] Franks are generally generated by an apparatus. One exemplary
apparatus
for generating a franlc may include a franlcing request receipt module,
operative to receive a
request for at least one frank, a franlcing generation module operative to
generate a frank in
response to the request for at least one frank and operatively connected to
the franking
request receipt module, and a frank transmission module operative to transmit
a generated
frank, the frank transmission module operatively connected to the franking
generation
module.
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[00013] Another apparatus may generate and send a franked communication. Such
an apparatus may include a frank request module operative to request a frank,
a frank
attachment module operative to attach the frame requested by the frank request
module to a
communication, thereby creating a franked communication, and a franlced
communication
transmission module operative to transmit the franked communication.
[00014] Yet another apparatus may receive and process a franked communication.
Such an apparatus may include a communication receipt module operative to
receive a
communication, a determination module operative to determine whether the
commmzication
is franked, the determination module operatively connected to the
communication receipt
module, and a franlced communication processing module operative to process
the
communication according to a first rule in the event the communication is
franked, the
franlced communication processing module operatively connected to the
determination
module.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[00015] Fig. 1 displays a general embodiment of the present invention.
[00016] Fig. 2A displays an embodiment of the invention suitable for use with
a
filtering system.
[00017] Fig. 2B displays a second embodiment of the present invention suitable
for
use with a filtering system.
[00018] Fig. 3 displays a embodiment of a communications franking system in
accordance with the present invention.
[00019] ' Fig. 4 displays a flowchart detailing the server-side operation of
an
embodiment of the invention.
[00020] Fig. 5 displays a flowchart detailing the recipient-side operation of
an
embodiment of the invention.
[00021] Fig. 6 displays a first embodiment of a franking application resident
on a
sender's system.
[00022] Fig. 7 displays a second embodiment of a franking application resident
on
a sender's system.
[00023] Fig. 8 displays a portion of an embodiment detailing the purchase of
one or
more franlcs.
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[00024] Fig. 9A displays a second embodiment of an e-mail/communication
franking system in accordance with the present invention.
[00025] Fig. 9B displays a third embodiment of an e-mail/communication
franking
system in accordance with the present invention.
[00026] Fig. 10 displays an embodiment of the present invention suitable for
use in
a telephony-based environment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[00027] 1. Overview ,
[00028] Generally, the various embodiments of the present invention implement
one or more methods and/or systems of controlling, identifying, disseminating,
and, in some
cases, eliminating communications categorized into various classifications or
other
indications of priority, type of content, status, origin or the like. As
mentioned previously
above, examples of communications include, but are not limited to: e-mail
messages; IMs;
SMSs; sequence packet protocols ("SPPs"); voice mail communications,
including, for
example, telemarketing communications; video communications; audio
communications;
voice communications; information provided in video, graphical, still picture,
text or other
formats; electronic mail attachments; and any other information or computer
readable
elements capable of transmission across a network. It should be understood
that the terms
"e-mail," "electronic mail," "electronic messages," "messages" and/or
"communication(s)"
may be used interchangeably throughout this document, and the use of one such
term may be
construed to cover the usage of any such terms, unless such an interpretation
is inconsistent
with the manner in which a system and/or process feature or function is
described.
[00029] More specifically, at least one embodiment of the present invention
provides a system and/or process enabling a sender of an e-mail/communication
(or another
form of electronic communications) to categorize, prioritize, or otherwise
handle such a
e-mail/communication. This categorization may take place by attaching or
otherwise
associating an electronic frank or other categorizing element to the e-
mail/cormnunication.
The franlc(s) may be purchased or otherwise acquired, for example, from a
franking server, a
franking lcioslc (whether stand-alone, integrated into automated teller
machines or on-line) or
other network entity configured to distribute franks and/or associate a frank
with a given
communication.
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[00030] A frame may be obtained for a "fee" or some other value (such as
money,
time, and so forth), wherein the value may be specified or negotiated by the
interested parties.
Franks may also be provided for "free," as part of a subscription to a service
(for example,
subscription to an ISP or a given telecommunications service provider), or
otherwise.
Various embodiments for associating franks with e-mails/communications are
discussed
hereinbelow. However, other embodiments may also be utilized in conjunction
with the
present invention.
[00031] Further, the franlc facilitates the recognition, filtering, sorting,
classification, prioritization, timing, transmission, routing and/or
identification of a given
e-mail/communication or e-mails/communications. Generally, the frank may
include a
communication handling instruction, and instructs or otherwise facilitates the
above
operations via the instruction. Multiple classes of franks may be employed,
each
corresponding to a different e-mail/communication classification, type and/or
service. For
example, one frank might designate a "first class" e-mail/communication, a
second might
indicate a "third class" e-mail/communication, a third might indicate a
"certified"
e-mail/communication and yet a fourth might indicate a "first class" voice
communication.
Typically, franks representing higher categories (that is, "first class"
instead of "third class")
or enhanced services (such as e-mail/cormnunication certification) cost more
than franlcs
representing lower categories or devoid of such services. By incorporating or
associating a
franlc in/with an e-mail/communication, the sender may categorize the e-
mail/communication
as he desires.
[00032] Using a system consistent with one of the various embodiments of the
present invention, ISPs, routers and other network nodes may be configured to
expedite
communications with a higher category while granting lower deliver priority to
those of a
lower category. For example, just as the United States Postal Service may
transport bulk
mail more slowly than Express or first class mail, the Internet, ISPs, network
service
providers and others may be configured to permit the delay of processing,
routing and/or
communication of e-mails/communications which have a bulk-class frank attached
while
other higher class e-mails/communications are handled or expedited. As a
further example,
an embodiment may delay (or permit the delay of) lower category e-
mails/communications
when the delivery of higher category e-mails/communications is pending. As yet
another
example, an embodiment may implement a time delay corresponding to a franlced
e-mail's
service class or priority; first class or high priority e-mails/communications
may be
immediately processed, second class or medium priority e-mails/communications
delayed by
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a small period of time, such as one hour, and third class or low priority
e-mails/communications delayed longer, such as one day. Additionally,
unfranlced
e-mails/communications may be delayed further, or may be handled in a manner
different
than franked e-mails/communications of any kind. For example, a network node,
a
recipient's application program, or other element involved in the transfer of
a given
e-mail/communication may be configured to delete all unfranked e-
mails/communications or
e-mails/communications of a specified type of content, source, medium or
otherwise, if
desired. Alternately, unfranlced communications may be presented separately,
color-coded,
placed at a specific point in a queue, communication list, or inbox, and so
forth.
[00033] Additional embodiments of the present invention may be configured to
implement filtering tools, as desired by a given network provider, recipient
and/or other to
sort and categorize e-mails/communications based upon the category assigned to
such
e-mails/communications by a sender or another. In one embodiment,
e-mails/communications to which a sender attaches an "express" or "first
class" franlc may be
listed at the top of a recipient's e-mail/communication queue. Alternately,
such
e-mails/communications may be forwarded to a recipient's mobile communications
device
(such as a handheld pager, wireless communications device, cell phone,
personal data
assistant ("PDA") and so forth), while lower priority franked e-
mails/communications are not
forwarded. Similarly, those e-mails/communications to which a sender attaches
a "bull" or
"spam" frank may be suitably listed at the bottom of the queue. In another
embodiment, such
franked e-mails/communications may be redirected to a separate in-box
specifically
configured to receive, or hold, or possibly automatically eliminate mailings.
In yet another
embodiment, franlced e-mails/communications may be routed to persistent
devices and/or
non-persistent devices, depending upon rules and/or preferences designated by
a system, a
recipient or others.
[00034] Thus, in general, the various system and process embodiments of the
present invention provide for the classification of communications, for
example, e-mails, and
a corresponding routing, processing, prioritizing, eliminating, and/or
reviewing of such
communications by recipients and/or network providers.
[00035] In other embodiments of the present invention, systems and processes
are
provided for confirming the delivery of e-mails/communications and/or other
forms of
electronic communications over a network to a particular recipient. More
specifically,
various embodiments of the present invention also permit for the sending of
"certified
e-mails/communications," i.e., communications for which acknowledgment of
receipt by the
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intended recipient may be obtained at the time of delivery. Since this feature
may involve
additional communications (such as the return of an electronic receipt to the
sender), a value
for such service may also be associated with a given e-mail/communication,
thereby further
providing a marlcet and financial mechanism for encouraging the use of such
services when
appropriate.
[00036] Similarly, various system and process embodiments of the present
invention may be configured to provide a tracking service for e-
mails/communications. More
specifically, the various system and process embodiments of the present
invention may be
configured to traclc an e-mail/communication as it is communicated over one or
many
communications networks) to a designated recipient(s). Yet other embodiments
may encrypt
and securely transmit e-mails/communications.
[00037] In another embodiment of the present invention, a system and process
is
provided which enables a recipient to include one or more senders on an
"approved list," thus
permitting e-mails/communications from these senders to be treated as if
franked or in some
other manner, as determined by the recipient or others (such as system
operators). For
example, e-mails/communications from approved senders may be placed in a
recipient's
e-mail/communication queue as if franked, even if no franc is attached. Such
e-mails/corninunications may then be accessed by the recipient when desired.
[00038] 2. General Embodiment
[00039] Generally, one embodiment of the present invention (shown in Fig. 1)
may
take the form of a communication franking and payment system 100. ~ne such
exemplary
communication 105 is electronic mail, or "e-mail." This embodiment 100 may be
utilized to
classify a variety of e-mails/communications 105, files or other computer-
readable data
structures into at least one of a variety of different service classes.
[00040] Throughout this application, the term "system" refers to any single
device
or collection of devices) configured and/or configurable for generating,
sending, receiving,
or otherwise creating an e-mail/communication which may be transmitted or
otherwise
communicated by one or more sending devices (either singularly or in
combination) across a
network to one or more receiving devices. Examples of "devices" or "computers"
embraced
by the present invention include, but are not limited to, personal computers,
mainframe
computers, minicomputers, personal data assistants ("PDAs"), cell phones,
Internet-enabled
telephones, laptop computers, computer workstations, Web tablets, wireless
devices, cellular
or land-line telephones, software applications, routers, switches, hubs,
bridges, servers,
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e-mail/communication servers, IM servers, databases or other storage medium,
gateways, and
any other available or to be available devices) capable of creating, sending,
receiving or
otherwise facilitating communications, as set forth by the various embodiments
of the present
invention described herein. Further, the e-mails/communications may be
transmitted or
communicated across a variety of network or communication topologies
including, but not
limited to, paclcet switched networlcs (such as the Internet, intranets,
extranets, Ethernets,
local area networks CLANS), wide area networlcs (WANS), and the like), circuit
switched
networlcs ( such as the POTS and some cellular systems); combinations of
packet and circuit
switched networks and other communications topologies which are configured to
facilitate
the transmission of information from one or more senders to one or more
recipients.
[00041] In one embodiment of the present invention, a franlcing system 100 may
be
utilized in order to purchase or acquire franks 110. Such franlcs 110 may be
used to associate
e-mails/communications 105 into one of several service classes. Franlcs 110
may also be
used for other purposes, such as delivering e-mails/communications subject to
security
verification, tracking, and so forth. Each service class may be associated
with a unique frank
110. Francs for different service classes may be configured to cost different
amounts. For
example, franks 110 may cost different amounts for each service class, or be
valid at "off
peals" or "on-peals" times, or be designated for specific transmission media,
be specified for
e-mails/communications of a given size, of a given content (e.g., text,
graphics, audio, video,
still pictures or the like), of a given rating (e.g., "R" for movies and "AC"
for adult content),
and so forth.
[00042] A user may purchase franlcs 110 either singly or in bulk. A "user" of
the
present invention may be either a person, entity, system or device (some
examples of which
are set forth above) or combination thereof, including one to acquire franks
as needed or
necessary.
[00043] Once purchased, the franlc 110 may be attached to, incorporated in,
encrypted as a portion of, placed in a header of, or otherwise associated with
an
e-mail/communication 105. This association effectively designates or
categorizes the
e-mail/communication 105 as belonging to the service class (or classes)
corresponding to the
frank. A single frank 110 may correspond to multiple service categories. For
example, a
single franlc 110 may designate an e-mail/communication 105 as belonging to
both a "first
class" and "certified" category. Similarly, multiple franks may be used with a
single
e-mail/communication, or for a group of e-mails/communications (as may occur
when
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e-mails/communications are transmitted or franked in bulls). Communications
105 associated
with a frank 110 are generally referred to as "franlced" communications.
[00044] The franlced e-mail/communication 105 may be transmitted from a sender
system 115 across one or more networks 120. As used herein, the term
"networlc" 120 may
refer to the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, a cable networlc, a satellite
network, a wireless
networlc, a peer-to-peer network, a multicast network, a private network, a
public networlc,
virtual private networlc, a self contained network, a land-line or wired
network, an optical
networlc, a broadcast network, a WAN, a wide-local area network, a LAN, a dial
up
connection, an Internet connection, a plain old telephone service (POTS)
networlc, a
connection between two or more devices using any of the forgoing singly or in
combination,
or any other network or communications medium which may be configured to
facilitate the
creation, sending, and/or receiving of e-mails/communications 105.
[00045] The franked e-mail/communication 105 is typically received by a
recipient
system 125 after passing through one or more networlc nodes 135, which may or
may not be
associated with the recipient system. For example, Fig. 1 displays a recipient
mail server,
which is associated with the recipient system. Other network nodes 135 (such
as ISPs, sender
mail servers, and so forth) may not be associated with the recipient system.
[00046] Upon receipt of the franlced e-mail/conununication, 105 the recipient
system 125 may analyze the frame 110 and sort the communication accordingly.
For
example, the recipient system 125 may be an IBM/PC compatible computer which
has an
e-mail/communication application 130 resident thereon, such as OUTLOOK,
manufactured
by MICROSOFT Corporation of Redmond, Washington, or EUDORA Mail, manufactured
by QUALCOMM liicorporated, of San Diego, California, or INSTANT MESSENGER,
manufactured by AMERICA ONLINE Corporation. The communication program 130 may
also be a separate program (or portion of a larger program) configured to
receive,
acknowledge, and/or process a franlc 110 or franked communication 105.
Alternately, the
recipient system 125 may be any form of device of computer described herein.
[00047] When the recipient system 125 receives an e-mail/communication 105, it
may be configured to determine whether or not the e-mail/communication has
been franked.
If the e-mail/communication 105 is not franked, the recipient system 125 may
process the
e-mail/communication according to the default rules specified by the given
e-mail/communication application 130, or otherwise specified by the user.
[0004] If, however, the e-mail/communication 105 is franked, the recipient
system
125 may determine the service class to which the frank 110 corresponds.
Continuing with the
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present example, franking classifications (such as first, second, or third
class franlcs) may be
recognized by the recipient system 125. Generally, the higher the service
class of the frank
110, the higher the category of the e-mail/communication 105.
[00049] The recipient system 125 may also be configured to order, list, rank,
identify, prioritize, or otherwise designate an e-mail/communication 105 with
the then
highest category, when compared, for example, to previously received
e-mails/communications, at the top of a communication queue. Ideally,
e-mails/communications 105 at the top of the queue are accessed by a recipient
prior to other
e-mails/communications lower in the queue. For at least one embodiment, the
recipient
system 125 places high category e-mails/communications 105 at the top of the
recipient's
inbox or other communication display medium (or bottom, depending on how the
recipient
has configured the inbox), so that lower category e-mails/communications are
presented to a
recipient after at least a portion of higher category e-mails/cormnunications
have been
presented. Thus, e-mails/connnunications 105 associated with first class
franks 110 may be
presented prior to e-mails/communications associated with second class
franlcs, which are in
turn presented prior to third class franked e-mails. Further, unfranked
e-mails/communications may be assigned a lowest category, or none.
[00050] It is to be appreciated that in mail-exchange server topologies, a
recipient's
system 125 or device (such as a personal computer) may include e-
mail/communication
software 130 that is configured to perform ranking and presentation, as
appropriate, of
franked communications 105. Similarly, in embodiments wherein a mail-exchange
server
135 is not utilized or communications are not received via a local software
application 130
and instead are received via a network or server based application (for
example, from a
communications feature provided by an ISP server or a remote computing
application, such
as that supported by Citrix Systems and other like systems), the filtering and
ranlcing may
occur at the service provider's (and/or a third party's) server or system
instead of the
recipient's system 125. The results of such filtering and ranking may be
provided via HTML
pages, XML pages, Flash implementations, Java implementations and/or any other
types of
information transfer formats supported by a given service provider and
compatible with a
recipient's given device(s). Commonly, but not necessarily, such information
transfer may
occur via Web browser compatible information formats, such as those supported
by
Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator and others.
[00051] Regardless of whether an embodiment is server-, network-, or
recipient-centric (or a combination thereof), embodiments may motivate senders
of
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e-mails/communications 105 to pay for a first class frank 110 when they desire
their
e-mails/communications be presented sooner (i.e., given a "high category")
rather than later
(i.e., given a "low category") to a recipient. Senders attaching less
importance and/or
urgency to their e-mails/communications 105 may pay for a second or third
class frank 110 or
a frank otherwise suitably classified, while senders desiring no particular
importance and/or
urgency to be attached to their e-mails/communications may pay for no frank at
all.
[00052] In some embodiments, franks 110 may be purchased after use. For
example, an ISP might permit a purchaser to request and employ as many franlcs
as desired,
then pay for all franks as a surcharge or item on a monthly bill.
[00053] The various embodiments of the present invention may also be used to
control mass e-mails/communications 105. First, by associating a frank 110
with an e-
mail/communication 105, senders and recipients may designate and/or filter
important
e-mails/communications (that is, e-mails/communications for which the sender
is willing to
pay some premium in return for franking the e-mail/communication) from less
important (or
lesser franlced, if at all) e-mails/communications. Generally speaking, a
recipient may
presume an e-mail/communication 105 for which a sender is willing to assign a
frank to have
delivered is more interesting, important, or urgent than an unfranked or lower
category
franked e-mail/communication.
[00054] In particular, by appropriately configuring or creating a filter (such
as one
of the type commonly available on, compatible with, or supported by most
e-mail/communication application programs), franlced e-mails/communications 1
OS may be
delivered to a recipient's system 125 in order of category or service class,
while unfranleed
e-mails/communications may be delivered to a separate folder, irmnediately
deleted, or
otherwise processed according to specified rules.
[00055] Alternately, a mail server or other network node 135 may classify
e-mail/communication 105 on behalf of the recipient, before the e-
mail/communication is
ftwther communicated to the recipient's e-mail/communication application
program, as
discussed in more detail below.
[00056] In yet another embodiment, one or more "franking servers" may be
utilized to provide franlcs 110, prioritize e-mails/communications 105 into
separate service
classes, and/or to categorize communications. Such categorization of
e-mails/communications 105 may occur on behalf of individual recipients,
groups of
recipients, and so on. In this embodiment, the franking server may instruct
the recipient's
system 125 to properly classify and present franlced e-mails. The franlcing
server may also be
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configured to delete unfranlced e-mails/communications 105, delay transmitting
unfranlced
e-mails/communications (for example until all franked e-mails/communications
have been
transmitted and/or received), and/or to perform other operations as requested
by recipients or
others, such as server operators.
[00057] In yet a further embodiment, franked e-mails/communications 105 of a
higher service class may be transmitted prior to franked e-
mails/communications of a lower
service class, which in turn, may be transmitted before unfranked
communications. Still
further, a franking system and/or any appropriately configured system (e.g.,
an ISP mail
server, muter, LAN device, and so on) may delay, for any given or desired
amount of time,
the transmission of e-mails/communications 105 franked in designated service
classes and/or
unfranked e-mails. This delay may further permit the recipient to receive
and/or review
higher category e-mails/communications 105 (that is, e-mails/communications
105 having a
frank 110 corresponding to a high category service class) without the
distraction of receiving
lower category or unfranlced e-mails.
[00058] In another embodiment, the franking server, mail server 135 or other
communications system, server, or switch may be configured to delay
transmission of lower
category e-mails/communications 105 until the recipient's e-mail/communication
application
program 130 indicates to the server that all franked e-mails/communications of
a given or
higher category have been received and presented to the recipient. It can be
appreciated by
those skilled in the art that the ability to filter, categorize, purge,
prioritize, and/or delay
certain communications, while expediting or processing others at a normal
rate, may increase
the efficiency of networked communication systems, such as the Internet, the
World Wide
Web, and others.
[00059] 3. Filtering Embodiments
[00060] One approach commonly advocated and sometimes implemented to
control spam and/or other undesirable communications is to utilize filtering
technologies.
One embodiment 200 of a filtering approach is shown in Fig. 2A. In the
filtering approach,
which is commonly implemented by ISPs and/or corporate e-mail/communication
systems, a
"filter" 205 screens and eliminates unwanted e-mails/communications 105
received via a
communications network 120 (such as the Internet or other networks). Such
e-mails/communications 105 may originate from a sender's ISP 215, associated
system 115,
and/or communications devices, may be "spoofed" as if sent from another person
or
e-mail/communication address, or may arrive at the filter 205 via various
other paths.
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Regardless of the source or path, e-mails/communications 105 that "pass"
through the filter
205 are delivered to the recipient's system 125, while e-mails/communications
that do not
pass through the filter are generally discarded into an e-mail/communication
"dump" 220. It
should be noted that, although Fig. 2A displays a single dump, in actuality
each ISP, networlc
node 135, and/or recipient's devices) may maintain one or more dumps for
filtered
e-mails/communications 105. Accordingly, the single dump 220 illustrated in
Fig. 2A is
simplified.
[00061] Further, e-mails/communications 105 placed in such dumps 220 may or
may not be recoverable. In one embodiment, e-mails/communications 105
discarded into the
dump 220 are not deleted/purged until a predefined event occurs (such as an
indication from
recipient to purge such e-mails/communications or a passing of a time). As
such, discarded
e-mails/communications 105 may be suitably retrieved by the filter 205 (i.e.,
the ISP's
e-mail/communication server) and/or the by recipient's system 125 for
presentation to the
recipient.
[00062] In order to filter unwanted e-mails/communications 105 from legitimate
communications, filter systems 205 commonly attempt to determine whether the
domain
from which a given e-mail/communication has been sent is on a "banned" list
(i.e., a list of
domains associated with persons or entities from whom a recipient, ISP or
others do not
desire to receive communications, for example, a listing of known spammers).
If so, the filter
205 generally automatically rejects e-mails/communications 105 from such
domain(s).
However, spammers constantly change, "spoof," and/or hijack legitimate domains
and/or
senders' systems, addresses and devices, and/or mask the domain from which
they send
spam. Thus, a cat and mouse game often ensues between spammers and anti-
spammers (i.e.,
those wishing to eliminate spam), in which the anti-spammers attempt to rely
upon and/or
utilize filtering techniques to eliminate spam.
[00063] Further, a major shortcoming of filters 205 and filtering systems is
that
they often have unintended consequences. As a filter becomes more specific in
the content it
does or does not allow to pass through, the filter may often reject undesired
communications
105, such as spam, as well as legitimate communications. Additionally, filters
205 often do
not reduce the volume of communications 105 received by any given ISP 225.
Instead, filters
205 commonly reduce the volume of communications lOScommunicated to a next
node on a
network and ultimately presented to a given recipient system 125.
[00064] One embodiment of the present invention uses aspects of the above
described filtering processes in conjunction with franlc 110 processing rules
and systems to
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determine which communications 105 to present to a recipient. Using this
embodiment, ISPs
225 or other network nodes 135 or entities (including recipients) do not need
to (but, may still
do so if desired) utilize filters 205 to analyze an e-mail/communication
lOSand determine
whether the sender, recipient, address, subject or content of the e-
mail/communication is of
such nature that it is acceptable to present to a given recipient or network
node. Instead, the
ISP 225 or other network node 135 processes e-mails/communications in
accordance with
pre-defined or real-time defined franking rules and/or preferences. As is
discussed in greater
detail below, franks 110 may be attached or otherwise associated with given
e-mails/communications 105. For example, in the case of streaming media, a
frank might
exist for a given time period for a given stream of information from a
specified source(s).
[00065] Rules may specify, for example, that only e-mails/communications 105
meeting specific franking requirements are presented to the recipient.
Continuing the
example, one such rule may provide that all unfranlced e-mails/communications
105 are
automatically discarded or rej ected. Further, when a communication 105 is rej
ected, rules
may provide for the transmission of a return e-mail/communication indicating
the reason for
such rejection. Exemplary reasons include a lack of a frank 110, insufficient
frank or the
like. Similarly, rules may be developed such that e-mails/communications 105
that are not
franked with a specific class of franlc 105, or are not transmitted from a
sender on an
approved sender list (even if franked) are processed in accordance with other
rules or
procedures. Further, rules may provide that e-mails/communications 105
associated with a
streaming media franlc are processed first, in order to prevent fitter or
other undesired
interruptions in any e-mails/communications. It should also be appreciated
that any rules and
associated processing of e-mails/communications 105 may be handled by any ISP
225,
server, intermediate network node 135, router, and so forth (collectively,
"networlc node"
135) along the transmission path of the e-mail/communication 135, including
the sender's
own ISP 215.
[00066] By separating the filtering of content (which may still occur in
conjunction
with the present invention) from the processing of franlced/unfranlced
e-mails/communications 105 (which is accomplished in conjunction with the
franlcing
systems and processes of the present invention), it is anticipated that the
need for advanced
filtering criteria and complex, filter designs, features, and functions may be
reduced.
Additionally, processing of e-mails/communications 105 based upon whether such
e-mails/communications are associated with a frank 110 may also minimize the
lilcelihood
that legitimate e-mails/comrnunications are accidentally permanently
discarded. Thus, one
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embodiment of the present invention may utilize franlc 110 processing rules
and systems in
conjunction with e-mail/communication 105 filters (and/or other known
e-mail/communication processing devices) in order to determine when and
whether to
process and communicate e-mails/communications to recipients.
[00067] Another approach for reducing and/or eliminating undesired
commuyications 105, such as seam, utilizes recipient permissions and approved
sender lists.
In general, a permission-based software application (not shown), such as
CHOICE MAIL,
may be loaded onto a recipient device or utilized at an ISP 225 associated
with a given
recipient device 125. In this approach, the application generally does not try
to identify and
block span (see, for example, the Wall Street Journal article "Choice Mail
Designs Best
Traffic Cop Yet to Thwart Spammers," July 11, 2002, incorporated herein by
reference).
Instead, the application determines whether a given sender has the recipient's
permission to
send the recipient an e-mail/communication 105. Upon belief, the CHOICEMAIL
system
and similar approaches may utilize a look-up table containing a list of
approved senders. The
loolc-up table may be stored on the recipient's device 125 or at a networlc
node 135.
Accordingly, whenever an e-mail/communication 105 from an unapproved sender is
received, permission is requested or verified from the recipient prior to the
e-mail/communication entering the recipient's e-mail/communication inbox.
[00068] A derivation of this approach relies on providing one or more third
parties
(such as the recipient's corresponding ISP 225 or other network nodes 135)
with a list of
authorized senders. The ISP(s) 225 then filter e-mails/communications 105
based upon
whether the communications are associated with a recipient's "approved sender
list." As
such, the task of prioritizing and/or categorizing is essentially shifted from
the recipient to the
ISP 225.
[00069] As shown in Fig. 2B, various embodiments 230 of the present invention
may incorporate approved sender lists 235 into the franking system, either at
the recipient or
network node 135 level. By implementing an approved sender list 235, a
recipient may
designate one or more senders whose e-mails/communications 105 are treated as
if they were
of the highest category even if the e-mails/communications are not franked or
are franked in a
lower category. For example, a sender may designate family members or friends
as approved
senders. E-mails/communications 105 from these entities are typically
important to the
recipient, even if the sender has not attached the importance of a paying for
a verified franlc
110. The approved sender list 235 may be stored at the recipient's system 125,
at a portion of
the network associated with the recipient (such as the recipient's e-
mail/communication
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server or ISP 225), and/or at other network nodes 135. Accordingly, such
e-mails/communications 105 may be treated by the general franking system and
method
described herein as a franked e-mail/communication, even if they are not
associated with a
frank 110. Such communications may be referred to herein as "pseudo-franked"
communications.
[00070] However, it is to be appreciated that certain embodiments of the
present
invention may utilize a franlcing system wherein unfranked e-
mails/communications 105 are
automatically discarded. In such an embodiment, it is foreseeable that an
unfranked
e-mail/communication 105 from a sender on a given recipient's approved sender
list 235
might be discarded before reaching the recipient's ISP 225 and/or presentation
device/system
125. As such, various embodiments of the present invention may also be
configured such
that approved sender lists 235 are communicated to clearing house servers (not
shown). As
used herein, "clearing house servers" generally remove an unfranked e-
mail/communication
105 from a given network 120 unless the e-mail/communication is from an
approved sender,
as identified by a recipient's approved sender list 235. Currently, it is
believed that most U.S.
domestic Internet traffic passes through a handful of central servers. Such
central servers
may be configured to act as such clearing house servers. Similarly, large ISPs
215, 225 (such
as AMERICA ONLINE, MSN, YAHOO, and others) might also be suitably configured
as
clearing house servers.
[00071] Yet another embodiment may facilitate the communication of unfranlced
e-mails/communications 105 across a franleed communications system or network
120.
Accordingly, senders' systems 115 and/or associated servers 210 may be
configvired to store
approved sender list 235 information. Using this embodiment, the sender's
system 115, ISP
215, or other network node 135 may attach a pseudo-frank of no or little value
(instead of a
fully valued frank) when sending e-mails/communications 105 to a recipient who
has
previously identified the sender as being on his approved sender list 235. In
this manner,
systems designed to automatically discard unfranlced e-mails/communications
105 may
function without concern for approved senders' e-mails/communications being
mistalcenly
discarded, because of the pseudo-franlc value associated with such e-
mails/communications.
It is to be appreciated that, upon identifying a sender on an approved sender
list 235 or
removing a sender from such list, the recipient's system 125, ISP 225, or
other networlc node
135 may send an e-mail/communication 105 to the sender's system 115 or ISP 215
which
deactivates pseudo-franking for the given recipient. Thus, various embodiments
of the
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franking systems and processes of the present invention may be utilized in
conjunction with
approved sender lists 235 and the like.
[00072] 4. Central Server Embodiment
[00073] Fig. 3 shows an embodiment 300 of the present invention featuring a
central franking server 305. Although only a single franking server 305 is
shown in the
embodiment of Fig. 3, in practice multiple franking servers may be employed.
Each franking
server 305 may, for example, be responsible for franking e-
mails/communications and/or
other communications provided by certain senders, network nodes 135, Internet
service
providers (ISPs) 215, 225 or their associated customers, geographical areas,
network
addresses, and so forth.
[00074] The sender's ISP 210 may include a sending e-mail server 320 and
network connector 325. The network connector may facilitate server connection
to the
network.
[00075] Generally, in the present embodiment a sender may establish an
electronic
credit or debit account 310 with either the operator of the franking server
305 or a third party
prepared to act as a payment intermediary between the sender and the franking
server
operator (for example, PAYPAL, Western Union and the like). These credit and
debit
accounts 310 may correspond to any association of "value" specified by the
parties.
Examples of such "value" may include monetary value (e.g., United States
dollars), points or
credits (such as frequent flyer miles), credit or a promise to pay at a later
date, or any other
negotiable, mutually acceptable items or measures. Similarly, the term
"paynent" as used
herein generally refers to any such exchange of a mutually valued or accepted
item. A sender
(for example, a mass e-mailer or telemarketer) may use the account 310 to
purchase or obtain
franks 110 from the franlcing server 305. These franlcs 110 may be attached
to, associated
with, or incorporated into an e-mail/communication 105 or communication for
transmission
to a receiver.
[00076] It is to be appreciated that numerous techniques of attaching,
associating or
incorporating franks 110 with a communication 105 may be utilized in
conjunction with the
various embodiments of the present invention. For example, a frank 110 might
be attached to
a communication 105 by associating with the communication a separate paclcet
of
information identifying specifically franked packets. Also, a frank 110 might
be associated
with a communication 105 by appending necessary franking data to a packet or
stream of
packets (for example, as a header) while preserving encryption and other
aspects of the
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underlying communication. Also, franlcs 110 may be incorporated into a
communication by
inserting digital watermarks or other indicators of franlcing directly into a
communication
105.
[00077] Regardless of whether a franlc 110 is already attached, associated
with or
incorporated into a communication 105, the sender may designate that certain
communications are to be franlced. Such designation may be contemporaneous
(such as via a
check box on a user interface prior to establishing or sending a
communications), non-
contemporaneous (for example, a preference list providing that all telephone
calls to certain
persons or regions are designated first class regardless of intended
recipient), determined by a
policy of a sender's organization, automatic, or otherwise. Further, the
sender may specify
and/or designate the service class for which each e-mail/communication 105
should be
franked. Generally spealcing, the higher the category of the service class,
the more expensive
the corresponding frank 110. E-mails/communications 105 for which the sender
requests a
frank 110 may then be transmitted (either physically or electronically) from
the sender's
system 115 across the network 120, or transmitted by another appropriate
delivery means, to
the franking server 305.
[0007] Upon receipt of the e-mail/communication 105, the franking server 305
determines the service class requested by the sender. The franlcing server 305
debits the
sender's account 310 for the amount of the frank 110 (or simply confirms that
the sender has
pre-purchased a valid and legitimate frank of the appropriate class),
attaches, associates or
otherwise incorporates the franc 110 to the e-mail/communication 105, and
transmits the
now-franlced e-mail/communication across the network 120 and to a recipient's
e-mail/communication server 135. The recipient's e-mail/communication server
135 may
verify the authenticity of the franlc 110 and, once the frank's authenticity
is confirmed,
transmit the franked e-mail/communication 105 to the recipient's system 125.
Additionally,
where bulls franlcing of e-mails/communications 105 occurs, the franking
server 305 may be
provided with a single copy of an e-mail/communication having multiple
recipients, and may
franlc and deliver the bulls e-mail/communication appropriately. Finally, the
e-mail/communication application 130 resident on the recipient's system 125
may classify
the incoming e-mail/communication 105 according to its frank 110. The above
activities may
be performed either for a single e-mail/communication or a number of
communications.
[00079] In an alternate embodiment, the franking server 305 may receive a
franlc
purchase request from a sender. This purchase request may or may not be tied
to the
transmission of a specific e-mail/communication 105 for which the sender
desires a franlc
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110. Instead, for example, the sender may simply inform the franking server
305 (sometimes
via a network-routed communication 105, but possibly through a direct network,
Web-based,
wireless, or other transmission) that the sender desires to purchase one or
more franlcs 110.
In response to the request, the franking server 305 may transmit the desired
number of franks
to the sender, who may then attach the franlcs to e-mails/communications 105
either
immediately or at a later date. This process and procedure for purchasing
franlcs from a
franking server is described in more detail below with respect to Fig. 8.
[00080] In yet another embodiment, the franlced e-mail/communication 105 may
be
transmitted via normal network 120 connections, bypassing the franlcing server
305
completely. In such an embodiment, the franking server 305 primarily
distributes franks 110
to senders, as mentioned above and discussed in more detail below.
[00081] In yet another embodiment, the franking server 305 may perform both
franlc 110 distribution and franlced e-mail/communication 105
verification/transmission
functions, but may also perform the functions in a manner unrelated to one
another. That is,
the franking server 305 may distribute franks 110 to senders as previously
mentioned. The
senders, in turn, may use these franks to franlc an e-mail/communication 105,
as desired.
~nce the sender franks the e-mail/communication, he may then transmit the
e-mail/communication through the franking server 305, as also previously
described.
Accordingly, while the franlcing server handles e-maillcommunication
transmission and
verification, and franlc 110 distribution, these functions may be performed
separately.
[00082] 5. ~peration of an Embodiment
[00083] The general operation of the embodiment 300 of Fig. 3 is shown in more
detail in the flowchart of Fig. 4. The process begins in operation 400, in
which the sender
purchases or otherwise acquires one or more franks 105 from the franking
server 305 or other
device providing franks. Generally, as part of this purchase, the franking
server 305 may
deduct the cost of the franks from the sender's debit account 310, or may
charge the cost of
the franlcs to the sender's credit account. Where the cost of franlcs 110 are
relatively small
(for example, a few pennies or less), the franking server 305 may delay
charging the sender's
account until the total cost of purchased franlcs equals a minimum amount. As
another
option, charges to a sender's account 310 may be assessed for any value of
franks, as
determined by specific implementations of the present invention. The frame 110
purchasing
procedure of operation 400 is explained in more detail below, in the section
entitled "Frank
Purchases." Alternately, the franlcing server 305 may not maintain accounts
having a balance
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of franks for a sender's use, but may instead simply frank an e-
mail/communication 105 upon
request, for the appropriate fee. In such an embodiment, operation 405 may be
omitted.
[00084] Alternately, franks 110 may be purchased from the server 305 and held
at
the server in an account associated with the purchaser. As communications 105
are received
by the franking server, or as a purchaser requests, the franking server may
debit franks 110
from purchaser's associated account and associate them with the communication
or transmit
them to the purchaser, as applicable.
[00085] Next, in operation 405, the purchased franks 110 are added to a
sender's
account. Generally speaking, the franking server may keep track of the number
of franlcs
currently associated with each sender. Such information could alternately be
tracked by the
sender's system 125. That is, a certain number of franks 110, value of
franlcs, number of
franks in a given category, and so forth may be downloaded to and metered by
the sender's
system 125, as described in more detail below.
[00086] Next, in operation 410, the sender identifies one or more
e-mails/communications 105 for receipt by one or more recipients. Similarly,
when
communications other than e-mails/communications are to be established, such
communications are suitably identified by the sender (for example, an IM
session with a
given recipient might be identified). As part of the e-mail/communication
generation or
origination process, the sender may designate the e-mails/communications 105
for franking.
Further, the sender may designate what level of franking (as examples, first
class, second
class, third class, and so forth) the sender desires for each e-
mail/communication 105. This
designation may take the form of an encrypted code, an additional field on the
e-mail/communication address, telephone number, or the lilce, an attachment, a
"pretty good
privacy" (PGP) lcey, a user specific identifier, and so forth. Alternately,
the
e-mail/communication may be generated before franks 110 are purchased.
[00087] In operation 411, the franking server 305 (or sender) may determine
the
frank 110 that should be assigned to the e-mail/communication 105. Different
categories
may be assigned to the e-mail/communication depending on the franlc requested
by the
sender. For example, if the sender has requested and paid for a high category
(continuing the
above example, "first class") franlc 110, the e-mail/communication 105 is
assigned a high
category in operation 412. If, however, the sender has requested and paid for
a lower
category (again in the example, a "third class" frank), e-mail/communication
may be assigned
a lower category in operation 413. Although only two frank 110 classes are
shown here,
namely, first and third, as a practical matter the embodiment 300 may have any
number of
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franlc classes. Once the proper category is determined, the frank 110 is
attached to the
e-mail/communication 105 in operation 415.
[00088] In operation 415, the desired frank 110 is "attached" to, otherwise
associated with, or incorporated into the e-mail/communication 105. In the
present
embodiment, the frank 110 is attached to the e-mail/communication 105 upon
receipt of the
e-mail/communication by the franlcing server 305. Thus, the franking server is
responsible
for assigning the appropriate service class to each e-mail/communication, as
requested by the
sender. In alternate embodiments, the franking server 305 may be split into
multiple network
entities, one of which keeps traclc of a sender's account 310 balance and is
responsible for
selling franks 110 to a sender, and another network entity which actually
integrates the frank
with the e-mail/communication 105. In yet another embodiment, the e-
mail/communication
may be franked by the sender's system 125, the sender's e-mail/communication
server 315,
the sender's ISP 215, or another network node 135 associated with the sender.
h1 any regard,
once the e-mail/communication 105 has been franlced, it is routed to the
franking server 305
for transmission to the recipient's ISP 225 or e-mail/communication server in
operation 420.
Finally, in step 430, the e-mail/cornmunication is delivered.
[00089] In addition to the embodiments described herein, alternate embodiments
may permit e-mails/communications 105 to bypass franking servers 305 and be
transmitted
across a standard network 120. In such cases, delivery and processing of the
franked
e-mail/communication 105 in accordance with the functionality or priority of
the attached
frank 110 may be handled by the recipient's ISP 225, mail server 315, mail
application
program 130, or any other network node 135 configured to recognize and process
franlcs.
[00090] Fig. 5 is a flowchart displaying one embodiment of a process
undertaken
by the receiving e-mail/communication server 315 upon receipt of a franlced
e-mail/communication 105. First, the process is triggered by receiving an
e-mail/communication in operation 500.
[00091] In operation 505, the receiving e-mail/communication server 315
determines whether the e-mail/communication 105 has been franked. In the
present
embodiment, a network node 135 associated with the recipient determines the
class of the
incoming franked e-mail/communication 105. This networlc node 135 may be the
recipient's
system 125, the e-mail/communication application 130 resident on the
recipient's system, the
receiving e-mail/communication server 315, the recipient's ISP 225, and so on.
Generally,
all such networlc nodes 135 will be referred to herein as a "receiving e-
mail/communication
server." 315 Further, when a franked e-mail/communication 105 has been
received by the
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receiving e-mail/communication server from the franking server 305, the frank
110 is
presumed to be valid.
[00092] In an alternate embodiment, the receiving e-mail/communication server
315 may verify the authenticity of the frank 110 in addition to determining
its class. For
example, the receiving e-mail/communication server 315 may query the franlcing
server 305,
requesting identification of both the e-mail/communication 105 and the
associated frank in
order to ensure that the franking server issued or approves the frank 110.
Such a query might
consist of transmitting the encrypted franlc itself plus a portion of the e-
mail/communication
address, such as a time, date, or network address associated with the e-
mail/communication,
or may comprise a unique lcey (generated by a random lcey generator) from some
combination of e-mail/communication and frank data. In some embodiments, such
as those
for use with a telephone. system (i.e., where the e-mail/communication in
question is a
telephone call instead of an electronic mail), the query may include a portion
of the sender's
telephone number.
[00093] If the e-mail/communication 105 is validly fra~iked, in operation 510
the
e-mail/communication is categorized according to the frank 110. Otherwise, in
operation
515, the receiving e-mail/communication server 315 may optionally determine
whether the
sender is on a recipient's approved sender list 235. One example of an
approved sender list
235 may be a recipient's e-mail/communication address book, while another may
be an
individually-constructed list.
[00094] If the receiving e-mail/communication server 315 determines in
operation
515 that the sender is on the recipient's approved sender list 235, then the
corresponding
e-mail/communication 105 may be assigned to the highest possible or "first"
category in
operation 520 or otherwise processed, for example, in accordance with rules or
preferences
previously expressed or determined for the given recipient. If, however, the
unfranlced
e-mail/communication 105 sender is not on the approved list 235, the e-
mail/communication
105 may be assigned to the lowest category in operation 525 or otherwise
processed.
Although operations 515 through 525 describe a single approved list 235
implementing a
binary classification system (that is, highest category or no category),
alternate embodiments
may employ multiple approved sender lists 235, an approved sender list with
multiple
classifications, or a combination thereof, each of which assigns a different
category to an
e-mail/communication 105 based on the sender. For example, one embodiment may
have a
"first category" approved sender list 235, on which a sender may designate his
friends and
family, such that e-mails/communications from friends and family are assigned
to the highest
23
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category. The embodiment may also include a "second category" approved sender
list.
Continuing with this example, the recipient may designate co-workers or casual
acquaintances on the second category list. E-mails/communications 105 from
these senders
might be treated identically to third class or lower category franked e-
mails/communications
or in accordance with other rules or preferences of the recipient.
[00095] Reply e-mails/communications 105 from a recipient (or any
e-mail/communication to a sender from a recipient, or vice versa) may include
a visible
indication that the sender is on the recipient's approved list 235.
[00096] An alternate embodiment may add to the approved sender list 235 all
senders to whom the recipient has replied or otherwise initiated a e-
mail/communication 105
within a certain time period, such as six months or one year. Time periods may
be set by the
embodiment or the user. In the event the recipient does not transmit a e-
mail/communication
105 to a sender within a time period, the sender may be removed from the
recipient's
approved list 235. Similarly, an alternate embodiment may add to an approved
sender list
those senders whose e-mails/communications have been accessed by a recipient
within a
certain time frame. Again, should the recipient not open or otherwise access
the sender's
e-mail/communication 105 after a certain time expires, that specific sender
may be manually
or automatically removed from the recipient's approved sender list 235.
[00097] In operation 530, the highest (or "first") category e-
mail/communication
105 or e-mails/communications are presented to the recipient. This
presentation may take
many forms. For example, the headers of high category e-mails/communications
may be
displayed in the recipient's e-mail/communication application program 130.
Alternately, one
or more high category e-mails/communications 105 may be automatically opened
and
displayed to the recipient, either by the e-mail/communication application
program 130 or in
a separate pop-up box or window. As a further example, high priority
e-mails/communications may be flagged with a certain color, so that the
display of
e-mail/communication headers is color coded. For example, all high-priority
e-mails/communications 130 may be presented with red headers, while medium
category
e-mails/communications are presented with blue headers, and low category
e-mails/communications are presented with green headers. In yet another
embodiment, a
specific tone or sound may be played when e-mails/communications of a certain
category are
presented, thus permitting a recipient away from his system to know when
franlced
e-mails/communications are received and presented. Similarly, non-textual
communications
105 may be similarly designated. For example, telephone calls from friends or
family may be
24
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WO 2004/079624 PCT/US2004/006541
automatically directed to those devices 125 at which a recipient has an
identified presence
(such as an office phone or cell phone). Similarly, communications may be
identified by
distinctive sounds (such as rings), lights, actions talcen by a recipient's
device or the lilce. In
an alternate embodiment, validly franked communications 105 may be
automatically
forwarded to a variety of devices 125, if not received or accessed through a
first device. For
example, devices may be ranked by priority, creating a list of device
priorities. If the
communication is not accessed within a certain time from the first device on
the device
priority list, it may be automatically forwarded to the second device on the
device priority
list, and so forth, until the communication is accessed.
[00098] In operation 535, the receiving e-mail/communication server 315
suitably
determines whether all first category e-mails/communications 105 have been
reviewed,
processed, or otherwise acknowledged by the recipient or the recipient's
system 125. If not,
for at least one embodiment this checlc operation is repeated until such
review is complete.
For other embodiments, this operation may be repeated for a given number of
cycles, for a
given time period, until other communications are received or otherwise, or
omitted entirely.
[00099] In operation 540, the receiving e-mail/communication server 315
presents
all second category communications 105. Such presentation may occur after all
first class
e-mails/communications are presented, upon recipient request or otherwise.
[000100] In operation 545, the server 315 determines whether all second
category
e-mails/communications 105 have been reviewed or otherwise disposed. Again,
this check
may continue, depending upon specific embodiments, until all second category
e-mails/communications are aclcnowledged or handled.
[000101] In operation 550, which preferably, but not necessarily, occurs after
operation 545 returns an affirmative or "yes" determination, all e-
mails/communications 105
lacl~ing a category are presented.
[000102] Although Fig. 5 displays only the presentation of tliree categories
of
e-mail/communications 105, alternate embodiments may practically assign any
number of
classes, franks 110, or categories to e-mails. Further, the presentation and
display of various
e-mail/communication categories may take place in a number of ways. For
example,
e-mails/communications 105 may be sorted into different folders or in-boxes
depending on
their category. Alternately, e-mails/communications of a certain category or
lower may be
automatically deleted and never presented to a recipient.
[000103] Additionally, although Fig. 5 indicates a preference for presenting
and
reviewing e-mails/communications 105 of a higher category or service class
before
2S
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e-mails/communications of a lower category or service class are presented,
alternate
embodiments may simply display e-mails/communications of all selected
categories
simultaneously but sort the e-mails/communications in a display area according
to category.
That is, an embodiment 300 may place first category e-mails/communications 105
at the top
of the recipient's in-box, second category e-mails/communications after the
first category
e-mails/communications, and so on and so forth. Accordingly, it should be
understood that
the determinative operations embodied by operations 535 and 545 are optional
and need not
be executed by all embodiments.
[000104] Once all e-mails/cormnunications 105 have been presented to the
recipient,
the process ends in operation 555, and desirably automatically resumes
operation 500 when
the next e-mail/communication is received.
[000105] 6. The Franking Application
[000106] Generally, franks 110 may be purchased by a franking application 600
resident on a sender's system. Further, the franking application may also
append or
otherwise integrate franks into a communication for transmission to a
recipient. In alternate
embodiments, franks may be appended to a communication by a franking server,
as
discussed elsewhere in this document.
[000107] The franking application may take multiple forms. Fig. 6, for
example,
displays one embodiment of a franking application 600 resident on a sender's
system 115 and
employing an application program interface (API). In this embodiment, the
franking
application may interface with an e-mail/communication application program 605
(or other
communications program) and/or an output device manager. The franlcing
application may
either directly interface with the output device manager 610, or may rely on
the
e-mails/communications application program 605 for such interfacing. These
interface
options are depicted as dashed lines on the figure. In alternate embodiments,
the franking
application may be implemented as a stand-alone program, part of another
application, as part
of an application suite, and so forth.
[000108] When a sender purchases or otherwise acquires franks 110 (as detailed
generally with respect to Fig. 4 and more specifically in the section entitled
"Purchasing
Franks," below), the franking application 600 may transmit a request for
franks to a franlcing
server 305, typically remotely located. The request may be transmitted via the
output device
manager 610 or via the e-mail/communications application program 605.
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[000109] For example, a sender may access the franking application 600 and
specify
a number and class of franks 110 desired, in addition to any special service
qualities desired,
such as certified or registered e-mail/communication. Certified and registered
e-mail/communication franks are discussed in more detail below. The franking
application
600 may include a graphical user interface (GUI), text interface, telephone or
keypad
interface, voice response or other appropriate interface for a user to input
any needed and/or
desired information. Further, the franking application 600 may request a
source of payment
or other exchange of value, such as an account number, credit card, and so
forth. In alternate
embodiments, the franking application may locally store a commonly-used
payment source,
or the sender may establish a credit or debit account 310 with the remote
franlcing server 305
to be used for frank purchases. If such an account exists, the franking
application 600 may
simply instruct the franking server 305 to charge the sender's account 310
instead of
specifying a different payment source.
[000110] Continuing with the example, the franking application 600 may
generate a
e-mail/communication 105 to be transmitted through the output device manager
610, across
the network 120, and to the franking server 305, specifying the franks 110
desired and
payment method. In response, the franking server 305 may verify both payment
and the
sender's identity, and transmit the desired franks 110 back to the franking
application 600.
Both transmissions may be encrypted for additional security, perhaps with an
encryption code
unique to each sender or franlcing server. The franking application may then
verify the
authenticity of the franks, for example by comparing an embedded authorization
code against
a separately transmitted lcey generated by the franlcing server. Alternately,
the franking
application 600 may generate the key as part of the frank request, and the
franking server 305
may base the authorization code at least in part on the franlcing
application's specified lcey.
Once the franks' 110 authenticity has been verified, the franking application
600 may store
the franks locally, for example in a database 615. In alternate embodiments,
the franlcs'
authenticity may not be verified, instead relying on the franking server 305
to confirm that
the franks 110 are genuine when a franlced e-mail/communication 105 is
transmitted to (or
through) the franlcing server.
[000111] In another embodiment, the above transmissions may occur through one
or
more e-mails/communications 105 initiated by the e-mail/communication
application
program 605 at the instruction of the franlcing application 600. The e-
mail/communication
may be encrypted, as above. Alternately, the franking server 305 may recognize
only
e-mail/communication franlc requests including a specific word or phrase in
the body or
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subject of the e-mail/communication 105. For example, each sender may specify
a password
and/or username when setting up an account 310 with the franking server 305.
When the
franking server receives an e-mail/communication having the proper password
and/or
username, it may process the frank request by debiting the account (or
accepting a form of
payment specified in the e-mail/communication) and transmitting the proper
number and type
of franlcs back to the franking application. This return transmission may be
sent directly to
the franking application 600 via the output device manager 610, or may take
the form of a
reply e-mail/communication 105 received by the e-mail/communication
application program
605.
[000112] In an embodiment employing the e-mail/communication application
program 605 as a means of transmission between the franking application 600
and franking
server 305, the franlcing application may not be directly accessible by the
sender. That is, the
franking application 600 may operate below the GUI level of the operating
system. It could,
for example, take the form of an application or API accessible to the
operating system and/or
applications such as the e-mail/cormnunication application program 605, but
not include a
dedicated user interface. Further, it is to be appreciated that the franking
application 600 may
be provided in other embodiments in other manners than as an API, and may be
provided as a
separate application program, web embodiment, interfaced directly with an
e-mail/communication program, and the like.
[000113] Fig. 7 displays a second version of a franking application 700,
wherein the
franking application 700 interfaces with a web browser 705 (such as, for
example,
INTERNET EXPL~RER or NETSCAPE). Here, the franking application 700 may again
talce the form of an API or application in cormnunication with the browser
705. However, it
may also be configured as a browser plug-in, JAVA script, ActiveX script,
XHTML script,
XML script, SGML script, VB script, HTML script or other such scripting
language or
protocol. Further, the franking application 700 may be remote to the sender's
system 115 and
accessible by the browser 705 through a network 120, and not resident on the
sender's system
at all. Thus, the franlcing application 700 may be a purely ASP-based solution
which may be,
for example, co-hosted with the franlcing server 305.
[000114] In a browser-based embodiment, general franking requests may be
handled
as described above. Further, in both embodiments, in addition to employing
direct
communication through an output device manager 610 or e-mail/communication
based
communication, the franlcing server may also transmit frank requests via, for
example,
hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) compliant e-mails/communications 105 and/or
other
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e-mail/communication formats. Similarly, the franking server 305 may respond
with HTTP
e-mails/communications or in other e-mail/communication formats.
[000115] Franks 110 may be purchased by a corporation, company, charity, or
other
entity, as well as by an individual. Accordingly, the aforementioned
.discussion embraces
both possibilities. When a corporate entity purchases franks 110, however, it
may lceep all
franlcs in a central "pool" or database to be distributed to company
employees. Such
distribution may be by periodic allocation or at an employee's request.
Further, all
employees may have direct access to the central frank database 615, or only
certain approved
employees may be able to access the database. Because the frank database 615
is electronic
in nature, it may be easily accessed by employees, no matter where in the
world the employee
is physically located. Optionally, the database may only be accessed by those
providing
properly authenticated information, or who may pass other security measures,
including
biometric measures.
[000116] 7. Purchasing Franks
[000117] Fig. 8 displays a portion of an embodiment 800 detailing the purchase
of
one or more franks 110. In the embodiment 800 shown in Fig. 8, the franlcing
application
805 may interact with either a browser 705, an e-mail/communication
application program
605, or directly with an output device manager 610, as represented by the
dashed arrows. In
alternate embodiments, the franking application 805 may interact with only one
or two of the
three other elements 605, 610, 705, or may be integrated as a sub-program in
one or more of
these elements. Further, although a database 615 is shown as a separate
program or piece of
code, it too may be directly integrated with the franking application 600,
700, 805,
e-mail/communication application program 605, browser 705, or output device
manager.
[000118] Generally, a sender may initiate a frank 115 purchase through one of
the
variety of methods mentioned in the section above. As part of this initiation,
the sender may
specify one or more criteria for the frank 110. For example, the sender may
specify a class of
frank, frank value, number of franks desired, franlc expiration date, frank
encryption method,
frank usage time (that is, time periods at which a frank may be valid- for
example, from Gam
to 6pm, or from lOpm to 4 am, or any other start and end time), and so on. It
should be noted
that a franlc usage time is different from a frank expiration date- the first
specifies a period of
time during a day, week, month, and so forth during which a frank may be
attached to an
e-mail/communication and accepted by a franking server, while the second
specifies a time
after which the frank will no longer be valid. Further, the frank expiration
date may be
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specified as the end of a time period, or a certain date. For example, a
franlc 110 with a 1:00
p.m. - 6:30 p.m. frank usage time and a three month frank expiration date may
be used to
frank an e-mail/communication 105 transmitted between 1:00 and 6:30 p.m. on
a~.ly day
during the three months after the purchase date. Additionally, the sender may
specify a
payment method, as discussed above.
[000119] Once a set of criteria is specified by the sender, a frank request is
transmitted across the network 120 to the franking server 305. The franlc
request may be
transmitted via the e-mail/communication application program 605, the browser
705, or the
output device manager 610. Regardless, the frank request may be received by
the franlcing
server 305 through a franking interface 815. Once received, the franking
server may debit
the payment method specified by the user for the cost of the desired francs.
Alternately, the
franking server may maintain an account list 810 of approved senders that have
either
established credit or deposited funds with the franking server or a related
entity. In such a
case, the franking server 305 may instead simply debit the sender's account
310 for the cost
of the franks 110.
[000120] Once payment has been verified by the franking server 305, the server
may
transmit the requested franks 110 to the sender's system. Such franks may be
incorporated
into an e-mail/communication 105 or web page, a designated HTTF transmission,
or sent via
any other file format recognizable by the sender's system. Generally, each
frank 110 may be
encrypted before transmission, and decrypted with a key accessible by the
franking
application 805. Each frank 110 may include several data fields, such as an
expiration date,
valid frank usage time, franlc class, outbound encryption code, and so forth.
The outbound
encryption code may be used to encrypt either the franlc 110, once used, or
the franked
e-mail/communication 105 itself.
[000121] The franking application 805 may store the received franks in a
database
615 for later use. When a sender wishes to frank an e-mail/communication 105,
the franlcing
application 805 may retrieve a franlc 110 having characteristics matching
those necessary to
franc the e-mail/communication 105 in the manner desired by the sender (i.e.,
having the
class, expiration date, usage time, and so forth desired by the sender), and
attach, embed, or
otherwise encode the franlc 110 to the e-mail/communication. Finally, the
franlcing
application 805 may delete the franlc from the database 615.
[000122] In addition to purchasing franks 110 through any of the other methods
described herein, franks may also be obtained through a stand-alone kiosk or
other stand-
alone dispenser, such as an automated teller machine (ATM) or telephone booth.
For
CA 02517903 2005-09-O1
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example, a purchaser may approach a lciosk, which may have a display screen
and keyboard,
and input specific details regarding the number and type of franks 110 desired
(for example,
five first class franlcs may be specified). After also providing a form of
payment (such as
swiping a credit card or inserting money), the lcioslc may generate the franks
110 and provide
them to the purchaser.
[000123] Alternately, the previously-mentioned card may contain data
identifying a
default set of franks 110, for example specifying a number of desired franks
and classes or
attributes for each. When the card is inserted into or swiped through the
lciosk, the kiosk may
automatically place the number and type of franks 110 specified by the data
onto the card,
and debit an account 305 associated with the purchaser. Yet alternately, the
default frank set
may be presented as a purchase option, rather than being automatically filled.
[000124] In addition to inserting a card or money into the kiosk, a purchaser
may
access a lcioslc in a dataport. For example, the purchaser may connect a
laptop to the kiosk
via the dataport, and purchase and download franks 110 from the kioslc.
[000125] Such generated franks 110 may, for example, be transmitted across a
networlc 120 to the purchaser's or another's account. In such an embodiment,
the purchaser
may specify an account (such as an e-mail account) to which the franks 110 are
delivered to
the lcioslc. Upon receipt of the account information and payment, the lcioslc
may forward the
franks 110 (for example, attached to, encrypted with, or embedded in an
electronic
e-mail/communication 105) to the account for later retrieval and use by the
purchaser.
Alternately, the franks 110 may be encoded as computer-readable data on a
credit card, ATM
card, smart card, magnetic dislc, CD-ROM, or other form of magnetic or optical
media, and
later accessed and retrieved by a computer, for example via a magnetic card
reader, magnetic
or optical disc drive, infrared port, or other input device, or may be
downloaded directly to a
device.
[000126] Further, with respect to an embodiment employing an ATM to dispense
franks 110, the ATM may encode the purchased franks onto the purchaser's ATM
card when
the card is inserted into the ATM machine and payment is authorized.
Similarly, any
embodiment may load franks 110 onto any credit card or other magnetic card
used for
payment authorization, substantially simultaneously with accepting the card
for payment.
[000127] In yet another embodiment, a purchaser may purchase a set value of
franks
110 pre-encoded on a card, magnetic or optical media, or other data storage
device or
memory (collectively, "card"), much in the manner of purchasing a pre-paid
telephone calling
card having a set number of calling minutes thereon. The card may be read by
any
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appropriately-configured input device attached to any device or networlc node
135 capable of
processing a frank 110. As franks are used, they may be deleted or otherwise
removed from
the card, thus decreasing the card's frank balance. Such cards may contain
specific types and
numbers of francs 110, or may contain a monetary value that may be exchanged
for franks at
a later date.
[000128] 8. Multi-Server Embodiment
[000129] Figs. 9A and 9B display embodiments of the present invention
employing
multiple franking system servers. Instead of the single franking server 305
shown in Fig. 3,
three (or more, or fewer) franking servers may be interconnected.
[000130] In these embodiments, franked e-mails/communications 105 are
transmitted across a specified franking system network. In Fig. 9A, the
franking servers 900,
905, 910 are accessible through, and may communicate using, standard networlc
120
connections. In Fig. 9B, the franking server networlc 915 is not connected to
the standard
network 120, but instead is completely standalone. The embodiment shown in
Fig. 9B may,
for example, provide a more secure transmission path for sending a franked
e-mail/communication 105. For example, registered, certified, or highly
confidential military
or governmental communications may employ such a system 915.
[000131] A sender may prepare an e-mail/communication 105 and purchase a frank
110 from the sending franking server 900. The sending franking server 900, in
turn, receives
the sender's e-mail/communication 105 from the sending e-mail/communication
server 210
and incorporates the frank 110 into the e-mail/communication. Alternately, as
previously
described, the sending franlcing server 900 may split the franlcing
distribution and
e-mail/communication transmission Functions into unrelated and/or separate
operations.
[000132] Once franked, the sending franlcing server 900 transmits the
e-mail/communication 105 across secured network connections to the central
franking server
905. This may occur across a standard network 120, or the previously mentioned
dedicated
franlcing network 915. The central franking server 905 may comprise multiple
franlcing
servers responsible for relaying franked e-mail/communication 105 from a
sending to a
receiving franking server 910. By employing such servers 900, 905, 910, the
risk of
e-mail/cornmunication interception is minimized.
[000133] The central franking server 905 delivers the franlced e-
mail/communication
105 to the receiving franking server 910, which may perform several functions.
First, the
receiving franking server 910 may verify the integrity and transmission path
of the franked
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e-mail/communication 105. Because the receiving franlcing server may be part
of the secured
franking transmission system 915, it may be easily configured to verify that
only approved
network nodes 135 have handled the franked e-mail/communication. Second, the
receiving
franl~ing server 910 may perform the categorization and display functions
described above.
[000134] An alternate embodiment may include dedicated franking server
networks
915 both within and without a network 120. Essentially, such an embodiment
combines the
dedicated francing server networks of Figs. 9A and 9B. Further, such an
embodiment may
employ the secure out-of standard network 120 franking network 915 to transmit
only
franlced e-mails/communications 105 of certain categories, while other types
of franked
e-mails/communications employ the franlcing network connected to the standard
network
120.
[000135] Additionally, where various franking networks 120, 915 are used, each
franking network may be optimized for delivery of a different type of e-
mail/communication
105. For example, a first franking networlc might be optimized to transmit
franlced
e-mails/communications 105 consisting of text, while a second might be
optimized to
transmit franked e-mails/communications consisting of audio data or files, and
a third
optimized to transmit graphic e-mails/communications. In this manner, delivery
of franced
e-mails/communications 105 in certain categories may be expedited by fine-
tuning networlcs
120, 915 to the transmission requirements of the e-mail/communication
category.
[000136] 9. Security Measures
[000137] Since the aforementioned embodiments may rely on the electronic
exchange of value (including in some cases monetary funds) to provide value in
the form of a
franlced e-mail/communication 105, unauthorized use of the system or server
900, 905, 910,
305 (collectively "system") may be of concern. In order to maintain integrity
of the payment
and franking system, "hackers" should be prevented from using the system
without paying
for a frank 110 or from otherwise interfering with value transfers. To this
end, various and/or
numerous protection schemes may be embraced by the various embodiments of the
present
invention.
[000138] A first protection scheme generally involves encrypting the frank
110, the
e-mail/communication 105, or both. This encryption scheme may be analogous to
the PGP
scheme presently employed by many Internet sites and users. In this format, a
franking
system would act to certify an exchange of sender's and recipient's keys in
order to allow for
encryption and decoding of the frank 110 and/or the associated e-
mail/communication 115. It
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is to be appreciated that, by using PGP encryption or a comparable encryption
process, the
franl~ing system may be configured to certify each party's keys or encryption
schemes.
Utilizing such a security system may reduce the serving load on each of the
franking systems,
insofar as the franlcing systems may only need to exchange, certify, or
authorize a sender's
and recipient's public keys, rather than transmit entire e-
mails/communications 105 from a
sender to a recipient.
[000139] Alternately, franlced e-mails/communications 105 may be authenticated
by
passing such franlced e-mails/communications through a gatekeeper. One example
of a
gatekeeper system configuration is shown in Fig. 9A, where the central
franking server 905
may act as a gatekeeper. In this configuration, Internet service providers 225
and/or
independent franking nodes 135 may be utilized to approve and/or attach a
frank 110 to an
e-mail/communication 105. Requests for franks may be routed to one of these
approved
networlc entities 900, 905, 910. The networlc entities, in turn, would
generate the frank 110
and attach it to the e-mails/communications 105.
[000140] Furthermore, the approved network entity 900, 905, 910 may attach an
identifying code (analogous to a watermarlc on a traditional paper check) to
each
e-mail/communication 105 it franks. This digital watermark adds an additional
layer of
security because it permits a receiving e-mail/communication server 315 to
identify the entity
issuing the frank 110. This may be especially useful in an embodiment where
the receiving
e-mail/communication server 315 queries or otherwise attempts to verify the
frank's
authenticity with the issuing networlc entity.
[000141] Additional digital security measures used to maintain the integrity
of
networlc based communications, as known to those skilled in the art, may also
be used with
the various embodiments of the present invention.
[000142] 10. Code-Based Franking
[000143] In addition to the franks 110 and various implementations of an
address
list 235disclosed herein, an embodiment of the present invention may be
configured to
operate with a code, a password, or other identifier embedded or otherwise
attached to the
e-mail/communication 105. For example, one embodiment may be configured to
automatically frank any outgoing e-mailslcommunications 105 including such a
code, or to
treat any incoming e-mails/communications containing such a code as a franlced
e-mail/communication. Effectively, the code may act as a frank 110 of any sort
described (or
any combination of franks described) herein, without requiring payment from
the sender.
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[000144] For example, a recipient may provide a code to a sender. Rather than
franking an email/communication 105, as described herein, the sender may
include the code
in the body of the email/comrnunication, its subject line, another portion of
the
email/communication, or otherwise attach or associate the code with the
email/communication. Upon receipt of the email/communication 105 contained in
the code,
the recipient's ISP 225, or mail server 315, or mail application program 130
may verify the
code. If the code is properly authenticated (for example, by comparing it
against a list of
recipient-specified codes or matching the code to a recipient's key), the
recipient's ISP, mail
server, or mail application program may deliver or otherwise queue the
email/communication
105 as if the e-mail/communication were franked with a franlc 110 of the type
corresponding
to the code. Alternately, the recipient's ISP 225, mail server 315, or mail
application
program 130 may generate a pseudo-frank of the type associated with the code
and attach the
pseudo-franc to the communication 105. By generating and attaching the pseudo-
frank, the
embodiment may facilitate processing the e-mail/communication 105 (including
the code)
according to the standard franking rules of the recipient's mail server 315,
mail application
program 130,or franking application 805, without requiring exceptions to those
rules for
e-mails/communications 105 having codes. Further, in an embodiment displaying
the frank
110 type or class associated with the e-mail/communication 105 in a
recipient's mailbox or
folder structure, generating and attaching a pseudo-frank insures the
embodiment displays the
coded e-mail/communication in the same manner as any franked e-
mail/communication
received. Thus, visual continuity regarding the display of
emails/communications 105 may
be preserved by the embodiment.
[000145] The code is typically generated either directly by the recipient, in
which
case the recipient inputs or otherwise identifies the code to the embodiment,
or by the
embodiment itself. In the case of an embodiment-generated code, the embodiment
may
employ a number of different factors ("lcernels") to generate the code. The
kernel or
combination of kernels (possibly along with a random number seed) facilitates
creation of
unique codes, thus minimizing repeating codes. Kernels may include, for
example, the date
and time at which the embodiment generates the code, the recipient's or
sender's name, an
alphanumeric string supplied by the recipient and/or sender, the franlc 110
type to which the
generated code will correspond, and so forth.
[000146] In yet another embodiment, the code may act to enhance the value or
operation of a frank 110 attached to an e-mail/communication 105. For example,
a recipient
may specify a code that, when combined with a third class frank, instructs the
recipient's ISP
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225, mail server 315, or mail application program 130 to treat the third class
frank as a first
class frank. Similarly, code may add functionality such as registered mail,
return receipts,
and others discussed herein to a franlced e-mail/communication 105 otherwise
lacking such
functionality. In this manner, a recipient may indicate some level of interest
in the sender's
e-mail/communication 105, thus enabling the sender to purchase a less
expensive franlc 110
which may nonetheless permit delivery of the e-mail/communication to the
recipient. This
may be useful, for example, when the recipient is interested in commercial
mailings dealing
with a specific subject. By transmitting this "value enhancing" code to the
sender, the
sender's marginal cost of e-mail/communication 105 transmission to the
specific recipient
may be lowered, but still present. Similarly, the value enhancing code insures
some
economic cost for transmission is incurred by the sender, in turn minimizing
the likelihood
the sender may misuse the code to transmit e-mailslcommunications 105
unrelated in content
to the recipient's stated interest.
[000147] The embodiment may be configured to permit such codes to change in
response to various criteria, thus eliminating the service life of a code and
minimizing the
likelihood of inappropriate use. For example, an embodiment may recognize a
specific code
only once, ignoring the presence of the code in any e-mails/communications 105
after the
first. Alternately, the code may be valid for a set period of time, a random
period of time, a
user's specified time period, and so on. The code could be encrypted either
electronically or
biometrically, as may the e-mail/communication to which the code is attached.
Further, the
code may specify to the recipient's ISP 225 (or other nodes 210, 225, 135 in
the
e-mail/communication 105 transmission path) that the e-mail/communication 105
should be
transmitted from the sender to the recipient, rather than being purged or
deleted. Codes may
be unique to individuals, or may be shared by companies, organizations, ISPs,
Internet
domains, and so on.
[00014g] 11. Source Review of Franking
[000149] One embodiment of the present invention may also permit a sender's
system 115, recipient's system 125, or other network node 135 to be configured
to require
evidence that an e-mail/communication 105 has been franked before the networlc
node
accepts, handles, transmits, or otherwise interacts with the
email/communication. Further,
the embodiment may store a list of known mass e-mailers, problem senders, or
other senders
at networlc nodes 135 so configured, and require evidence of franking only
from senders on
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such a "trouble list." In yet another embodiment, entire domains may be placed
on a trouble
list.
[000150] In one embodiment, a trouble list may be compiled from recipient
complaints. For example, any network node 135 receiving more than a certain
number of
complaints from one or more recipients about a specific sender may add the
sender to the
trouble list. Alternately, Any ISP 215, 225 or network node 135 that forwards,
receives, or
otherwise interacts with more than a certain number of copies of the same (or
a substantially
similar) e-mail/communication 105 sent to one or more recipient systems 125
may be added
to a trouble list. The network node 135 may consider e-mails/communications
105 differing
only slightly (for example, by time and/or date sent, or with minimal
alphanumeric changes
to the body, header or other information associated with the e-
mail/communication) as
multiple copies or multiple attempts at (in the case of telemarketers) of the
same
e-mail/communication.
[000151] In yet a further embodiment, network nodes 135 may add senders who
transmit more than a certain number of substantially similar e-
mails/communications 105
during a given time frame (for example, within one day, three days, forty-five
minutes, and
so forth) to a trouble list. In this maimer, the network nodes 135 may add
senders who time-
delay mass e-mailings/communications to a trouble list.
[000152] In yet a further embodiment, the network node 135 may notify the
sender
(for example, via e-mail or other communication mediums) that he has been
added to the
trouble list. Alternately, the network node may notify the sender shortly
before adding him to
the trouble list.
[000153] Effectively, the above embodiments permit an ISP 215, 225 or other
networlc node 135 to require e-mail/communication franking before such
e-mails/communications lO5wi11 be delivered or communications facilitated, in
addition to
allowing a recipient to require franking. Further, the network nodes may
implement such
franlcing rules as necessary.
[000154] 12. Certified Mail Embodiment
[000155] In addition to the sorting, filtering, and valuation concepts
discussed
above, at least one embodiment of a franking system may be configured to
provide additional
unique enhancements to the transmission and receipt of e-mails/communications
105. For
example, an electronic equivalent of certified postal mail may be implemented
through an
embodiment of the present invention. By requesting certified delivery of
franked
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e-mails/communications 105, a sender may receive confirmation of the delivery
of the
e-mail/communication to the recipient. Generally, this confirmation is
generated by either a
franking application 805, 130 resident on the receiving e-mail/communication
server 315, the
receiving e-mail/communication application 130, a receiving system 125, or
other network
node 135 responsible for transmitting the franked e-mail/communication to the
receiving
e-mail/communication server. Some time after receipt of a certified franked
e-mail/communication 105, one of the above may create a confirmation
e-mail/communication indicating that the certified franked e-
mail/communication has been
received by the node 135. Optionally, the confirmation e-mail/communication
105 may
include additional data, such as the time of receipt, whether or not the
recipient has reviewed
the certified franked e-mail/communication, an identifier corresponding to
either the frank
110 or the certified franked e-mail/communication 105 itself, an identifier
indicating the
networlc or system element 135 generating the confirmation e-
mail/communication, and so
forth. Once created, the confirmation e-mail/communication may be transmitted
across the
network 120to the sender's system.
[000156] Unlike the read receipts or delivery receipts currently generated by
some
e-mail/communication application programs 130, certified franked e-
mail/communications
may return a delivery confirmation. Present e-mail/communication application
programs 130
typically only return such receipts if the recipient's e-mail/communication
application
program is able to understand the request generated by the sender's e-
mail/communication
application program. Due to the wide variety of e-mail/communication
applications 130 in
use, this is not always (or even often) guaranteed.
[000157] In the aforementioned embodiments, by contrast, franked
e-mails/communications 105 may pass through at least one networlc node 135
equipped to
identify and verify the franked email/communication. For example, this element
may be a
franking server 900, 905, 910 within the network 120, 915 itself, a receiving
e-mail/communication server 315, or the recipient's system 125. Regardless,
this enables
some uniformity of formatting and programming within the franking system in
order to
accurately categorize franked emails/communications 105. This same uniformity
ensures
that the network node 135 responsible for identifying and categorizing the
franked
e-mail/communication may generate a return e-mail/communication to the sender
confirming
delivery of a certified franked emails/communications.
[000158] In accordance with the above embodiments, the act of requesting
certification of a franked e-mail/communication 105 may add a fee to the cost
of the franking
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itself. This is analogous to the United States Post Office's practice of
charging additional
fees or postage when sending physical certified mail. Further, this additional
fee may be
nominal, merely reflecting the additional networlc 120 and system resources
required to
generate and transmit the confirmation email/communication.
[000159] In addition to the delivery receipt function described above, the
certified
mail features of the franlcing systems described herein may include a tracing
function. That
is, when a franked e-mail/communication 105 is certified for delivery, its
path through the
network 120 from the sending e-mail/communication server 210to the receiving
e-mail/communication server 225 may be logged. Typically, this log takes the
form of a
series of networlc addresses. The log may also indicate whether an e-
mail/communication
105 was copied or stored at a network node. Optionally, the copying and
storage elements of
the log may be available only if an additional franlc 110 is purchased.
[000160] The log may be appended to the franked e-mail/communication 105 or
may be stored on the franking server 900, 905, 910, 305 for remote access and
viewing by
either a sender or a recipient. In this manner, both the sender and recipient
may trace the
routing of the franlced email/communication 105, thus permitting either party
to know exactly
which servers forwarded the email/communication. Should the e-
mail/commtmication be
intercepted or copied, the log provides a list of all possible sites at which
such interception or
copying may have occurred.
[000161] Further, and possibly for an additional fee, a "clean-up" function
may be
implemented for certified franlced (or indeed any form of franked)
email/communication 105.
The clean-up function may instruct the franking server 900, 905, 910, 305 or
another networlc
node 135 to retrace the networlc path of the e-mail/communication, as defined
by the
aforementioned log, and delete any residual files that may be left behind on
any of the nodes
135 in the e-maillcommunication path. In this manner, the various embodiments
described
herein may enhance a franlced e-mail's/communication's 105 security by
ensuring that no
copies of the franked email/communication, even if fragmentary, are left
behind in the
networlc 120. In one embodiment, this "clean-up" function may be restricted to
acting upon
franlcing servers 305, 900, 905, 910 and/or affiliated network nodes 135
consenting to the
clean-up, and/or that meet a minimum level of security in the receipt and
transmission of .
e-mails/communications 105 (collectively, "affiliated nodes"). Similarly, an
embodiment
may restrict the path of certified franlced e-mail/communication 105 through
the network 120
to only affiliated nodes 135. Further, where an e-mail/communication was
backed up or
otherwise copied and removed from a system, the "clean-up" function may detect
such
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removal and indicate to a recipient, sender, or third party that such copying
occurred, in
addition to indicating whether or not the "clean-up" function was able to
eliminate the copy.
The sender, recipient or third party may also be alerted as to when, where,
and/or to what
particular type of medium the copy was made.
[000162] 13. Registered Mail Embodiment
[000163] Just as the various embodiments of the present invention may
facilitate
certified franked emails/communications 105, so may they facilitate registered
franked
emails/communications. Registered franked e-mails/communications may add an
additional
level of security to a franlced email/communication. When a sender requests
that a franked
e-mail/communication 105 be sent via registered delivery and pay the
appropriate fee, the
franking software resident on the sending e-mail/communication server 210 or
the franking
server 305, 900, 905, 910 itself may encrypt not only the frank 110, but the
entire content of
the e-mail/communication 105 in accordance with any encryption scheme well
known to
those skilled in the art. This encryption may be generated based on either a
key or password
provided by the sender or recipient (or combination thereof) as with PGP
encryption, or may
rely on non-public keys held by each sending e-mail/communication server 210.
By
implementing an encryption system employing private, e-mail/cornmunication
server specific
keys, and matching this key to another lcey held only by the receiving e-
mail/communication
server, the franked e-mail/communication may be protected against inadvertent
or deliberate
interception and decoding by a third party in possession of the sender's
public key.
[000164] Additionally, a registered franked e-mail/communication 105 may be
decoded only when an intermediate franking server 305, 900, 905, 910 supplies
a portion of a
lcey. In this manner, both the sender and recipient are assured that the
registered franked
e-maillcornmunication 105 passed through at least one secure franking server
during
transmission. This enhances the authenticity of the frank 110 itself. The
registered delivery
features of the various embodiments described herein may be combined with the
certification
features described above to permit generation and delivery of registered,
certified franlced
emails/communications 105. As with certification of franlced
emails/communications,
registration of franked e-mail/communication may include payment of some
additional fee or
exchange of other value above and beyond the cost charged for the frank 110
itself.
[000165] 14. Additional Franlc Classes and Charges
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[000166] Several frank 110 service classes have been discussed above, such as
franlcs for registered, certified, first class, second class, and third class
e-mails/communications. Additional franks 110 for additional e-
mail/communication 105
handling categories may also be used with an embodiment.
[000167] For example, an embodiment may require a specific frank 110 for
e-mails/communications 105 exceeding a size limit, typically measured in kilo-
or
megabytes. This "large mail" frank may be required in addition to another
franlc 110.
Continuing the example, a fifteen megabyte e-mail/communication 105 may be
frauced as
first class, but may also need to be franlced as a "large mail" in order for
the embodiment to
process and transmit it. Unfranlced large mails may be subject to delivery
delays, or may be
refused delivery altogether.
[000168] As another example, a first class or higher category e-
mail/communication
105 may be forwarded to a plurality of additional recipients and/or to the
first recipient if the
first attempt failed and "bounced." Such forwards may occur, for example,
without payment
of additional franks by a forwarding recipient or sender. Alternately, such
forwards may
occur to N additional recipients, wherein N may be defined by the original
sender, the
recipient or otherwise. As such, it is to be appreciated that any given frank
110 may be
associated with particular rules and procedures including, but not limited to,
forwarding rules.
Such rules may be specified by servers 305, 900, 905, 910, franking service
providers,
senders, recipients, or others, or otherwise specified.
[000169] An embodiment may permit a sender to frank an e-mail/communication
105 for priority or expedited delivery. Such franlced e-mails/communications
may be
assigned high priorities in delivery queues and may, for example, be routed
across particular
servers 305, 900, 905, 910 or other network nodes 135 having faster or less
latent network
connections to one another.
[000170] Yet another embodiment might accept and/or distribute franlcs 110
that,
when attached to an e-mail/communication 105, permit auto-forwarding of the
e-mail/communication to a given number of e-mail/communication addresses or
destinations.
For example, an "auto-forward" franlced e-mail/communication 105 might specify
three
e-mail/communication addresses, each with a different delivery priority. If
the embodiment
fails to deliver the e-mail/communication 105 to the first priority e-
mail/communication
address, it may forward it to the second priority e-mail/communication
address. If delivery to
that address also fails, transmission to the third priority e-
mail/communication address may
be attempted. Further, an auto-forward frank 110 may come in varying prices,
each of which
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reflects a different number of e-mail/communication addresses to which
delivery may be
attempted.
[000171] A related frank type is a "multi-address" frank 110. A multi-address
franlc,
when attached to an e-mail/communication 105, may franlc the e-
mail/communication for
transmission to multiple e-mail/communication addresses instead of just one.
In another
embodiment, the "multi-address" frank 110 may frank e-mails/communications 105
only to
those e-mail/communication addresses not appearing in a sender's approved list
235.
[000172] An embodiment may also levy additional charges against a franlced
e-mail/communication 105. For example, in order to eliminate the e-mailing of
random
addresses and reduce network 120 load accordingly, a sender may be charged for
each
franlced e-mail/communication 105 sent to an undeliverable address.
Conversely, a sender
might pay for a frank 110 that returns a e-mail/comtnunication 105 to the
sender when the
recipient's e-mail/communication address is invalid.
[000173] As yet another example, an embodiment may discount one or more types
of franlcs 110 if the franks are purchased in bulls. When a number of franks
110 purchased
exceeds a threshold, the price per frank may drop. Multiple thresholds may be
established in
order to provide different discount levels. Further, such discounts may be
applied only when
all franks 110 purchased are of the same class or category, or discounts may
be given when a
sufficient number of franks are purchased, regardless of the frank category.
[000174] hl further embodiments, franks 110 may correspond to various degrees
of
time delay. For example, a first class frank may have no time delay associated
with it, while
a second class frame may have a small time delay, and so on. Further, special
franks 110 may
be available to expedite processing of an e-mail/communication 105 in order to
offset
inherent or calculated network 120, 915 delivery delays.
[000175] For example, an "immediate delivery" franlc 110 may be purchased by a
sender. The "immediate purchase" frank may be combined with a second class
frank in order
to offset the time delay of the second frank. The cost of both franlcs 110
together may be less
than the cost of a "first class" frank.
[000176] Alternately, franks 110 increasing a delivery delay may be purchased
as
well. Such franks may credit a sender's account, instead of debiting the
account, to aid in
offsetting the cost of a second frank associated with such a "delay frank."
[000177] Alternate franks 110 may incorporate additional security measures.
For
example, another type of frank may require a recipient to pass a biometric
security test (such
as a fingerprint or retinal scan) to open or receive the e-mail/communication.
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[000178] Some embodiments may generate, accept, and/or recognize "temporal
franks." For example, a sender may purchase a first class temporal franlc 110
permitting him
to send first class e-mails/communications 105 to a recipient for a limited
period of time.
Similarly, senders may purchase third class temporal franks, certified
temporal franks,
registered temporal franks incorporating some form of security discussed
herein, and so on.
Generally, all of the franlc's 110 attributes expire when the temporal window
expires. Thus,
for example, in the case of a temporal frank having security features, the
security feature of
the frank 110 would expire at the end of the temporal window.
[000179] In addition to the various frank 110 types described herein, a single
frank
may have multiple functions. That is, rather than attaching both a first class
franlc and a
certified frank to a single e-mail/communication 105 to transmit the e-
mail/communication
with certification functionality and to insure the recipient's system
processes the
e-mail/communication as a first class e-mail/communication, a single frank
combining both
types of functionality may be purchased and attached to the e-
mail/communication. In short,
any franlc 110 type or functionality described herein may be combined with any
other franlc
type or functionality in the form of a single frank.
[000180] 15. Approved Domains
[000181] In addition to the concept of an approved sender list 235 discussed
above,
an embodiment of the present invention may implement an approved domain list.
This may
be especially useful, for example, where a system administrator wishes all
electronic
mails/communications 105 associated with a particular domain name to be
treated as first
class franked e-mails/communications without requiring such payment. Where
many
e-mails/communications 105 are exchanged between two companies or domains,
this permits
priority or category handling of such data.
[000182] Generally, it should be noted that an e-mail/communication 105 from
an
approved sender, domain, or even franked e-mails/communications received from
a verified
franking server 305, 900, 905, 910 may also be filtered or processed according
to the standard
rules of the receiving e-mail/communication server 215, the recipient system
125, or the
recipient's e-maillcommunication application program 130. That is, simply
franlcing an
e-mail/communication 105 or adding a domain or sender to an approved list 235
may not
circumvent virus checking software and so forth.
[000183] 16. Payment Methods
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[000184] Generally, senders pay for franks 110 on a per frank basis from
either a
credit or a debit electronic account. The franking server 305, 900, 905, 910
may withdraw
funds directly from a sender's banle account, for example, provided that the
sender authorizes
such electronic withdrawal. Alternately, the sender may specify a credit card,
a PAYPAL
account, or other conventional third party electronic debit account for use
with the franlcing
system. In an alternate embodiment, the sender may establish a credit or debit
account 310
directly with the franlcing system itself or an entity in fiscal partnership
with the franking
server.
[000185] Often, e-mails/cormnunications 105 cost very little to transmit and
receive.
Accordingly, the general cost structure for a franking system as described
herein is
envisioned to be relatively inexpensive. It is to be appreciated, however,
that more expensive
systems may be used, as necessary, when information of greater importance,
greater content,
or in a certain format (e.g., audio file and video files) are communicated in
such
e-mails/communications 105.
[000186] For illustrative purposes only and not for purposes of construing or
limiting any particular embodiment of the present invention, first class
franking of an e-mail
may cost on the order of 1ø to 3ø per frank. In contrast, first class franking
of a legally file
swapped audio recording may cost $2 to $3 per frank. Thus, for example, a mass
e-mailer
wishing to send out 100,000 first class franked e-mails/communications 105
might pay
$1,000 for the privilege of having these e-mails/communications placed before
each recipient
with a high category. Further, second or third class franks 110 may be priced
to cost
commensurately less. For example, a third class frank or a third-class frauced
email might
cost 1/5 to 1/10 the cost of a first class frank. With regards to audio files,
second and third
class franks 110 might not even be available. As such, it is to be appreciated
that the cost of
franks 110 may vary widely and may, but do not have to, be associated with
assessments of
the importance, content, medium or the like associated with a given e-
mail/communication
105. Such assessments may be provided by the sender, servers or others.
[000187] 17. Monetary Value Distribution Embodiments
[000188] In order to encourage networlc providers or ISPs 215, 225 to accept
the
franking system and to reimburse such entities for the time and effort
required to classify
fianlced e-mails/communications 105, the franking system may pay a portion of
a monetary
value of each franlced e-mail/communication that passes through a networlc
provider's
e-mail/communication server to that network provider. In one embodiment, each
network
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provider, or ISP 215, 225, that forwards or otherwise transmits a franlced
e-maillcommunication may receive a portion of the frank 110 value from the
franking
system. In this embodiment, the revenue generated by each network provider may
be
relatively small (for example, on the order of 1/10 to 1/100 the value of the
franlc) due to the
sheer number of e-mail/communication servers through which a franlced
e-mail/communication may pass while on its way to a recipient. Also, other
values may also
be suitably utilized as particular embodiments so specify to reward ISPs 215,
225 and others
for processing and utilizing an embodiment of the herein-described franking
system.
[000189] In another embodiment, only the network provider or ISP 215, 225
operating the receiving e-mail/communication server 210, 315 is reimbursed.
This
encourages each ISP to adopt an embodiment of the franking system described
herein by
providing a financial incentive for implementing such a system. Under this
payment scheme,
each network provider 215, 225 operating a receiving e-mail/communication
server 210, 315
may receive a proportionately greater share of the frank 110 value since it
must be shared
with only one networlc provider.
[000190] Similarly, this concept may be extended to end recipients. Each
recipient
that receives and/or opens or otherwise accesses a franked e-
mail/communication 105 may be
credited with a portion of the frank's 110 value in the recipient's own credit
or debit account
305. A recipient's bank account or credit card account are examples of such
credit and/or
debit accounts. Other types of accounts include point systems (such as an
account accruing
"points" or value redeemable for goods or services once a certain point value
has been
reached), frequent flyer accounts, and the like. It is anticipated that such
an embodiment
offers several attractive features. First, it may provide each recipient with
a small
reimbursement, thus offsetting to some extent the cost of the time and effort
that may be
required to deal with lower-class or unwanted franlced e-mail/communication
105, such as
mass e-mail/communication (commonly referred to as "seam"). Second, under such
a system
a recipient may actually designate himself with his ISP 225 or network
provider as a person
interested in receiving large quantities of franlced e-mails/communications
105. Where mass
e-mailers use a lower category or lower class frank 110 for their e-
mails/communications,
this may be especially useful in that it permits an ISP 215, 225 to identify
those recipients
most likely to examine the e-mail/communication. The recipient benefits in
that, for each
such low category franked e-mail/communication 105 reviewed, he or she
receives a small
payment. The ISP 215, 225 benefits because it may sell the recipient's
e-mail/communication address to mass e-mailers who wish to invest in low
category
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e-mail/communication franking. Effectively, this permits the ISPs to assist
mass e-mailers in
targeting recipients likely to pay attention to the spam e-mail/communication
105. Mass
e-mailers benefit by placing their e-mails/communications in front of
recipients who are more
lilcely than not to actually pay attention to the e-mails/communications'
contents.
[000191] Other revenue-sharing models exist, in addition to those already
described.
For example, so-called "Internet cafes" are commonly used to access, send, and
receive
e-mails/communications 105 by people who do not own their own (or otherwise
laclc access
to a) computer or other device. Kiosks or other devices or systems, as
described above, may
be placed in Internet cafes to dispense franks 110 or cards having digitally-
encoded franks
thereon to a purchaser.
[000192] Alternately, a purchaser may purchase franlcs 110 through any of the
methods described herein while at an Internet cafe. The Internet cafe manager
or owner may
apply a surcharge for franks 110 purchased on one of the cafe's systems, or
may maintain a
communal account having a variety of franks therein. The communal account may
be
accessible by any sender employing one of the cafe's sending systems 115, with
each sender
paying a franking surcharge for each frank 110 taken from the communal
account.
Alternately, every user of any of the Internet cafe's systems 115 may be
charged a flat or
time-based surcharge for access to the corninunal account, whether or not
franks 110 are
withdrawn. A combination of the two surcharges (i.e., use-based and time-
based/flat) may
also be employed.
[000193] 18. Communal Frank Pools
[000194] In some cases, it may be advantageous to provide a common pool of
franlcs
110, accessible by multiple senders. The embodiment contemplates such a pool
may be used,
for example, in an Internet cafe, as described above. Companies, businesses,
charities, non-
profits, governmental entities, schools, and other organizations may also
desire a communal
franlc pool. Such entities may also assign their own values for franks or
specify such values.
[000195] Generally, a communal frank pool may include a number of franlcs 110,
which may be of different types and varieties. Multiple users (typically
defined by an access
list) may access the pool and withdraw franlcs 110 therefrom, possibly subject
to certain
access restrictions. One or more users generally may replenish the access pool
by purchasing
franks 110 through by any of the methods described herein.
[000196] In some cases, corporate logos, mottos, names, or other identifiers
may be
affixed to franks 110 in the commmial frank pool. For example, the embodiment
may
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automatically affix a company name to a frank purchased by a company
representative, or
purchased using a company account. The company name may be displayed in an
e-maillcommunication 105 once a frank 110 is affixed thereto. In this manner,
the origin of
such communal franks 110 may be traced, uniformity of e-mails/communications
105 from a
common source (i.e., the corporation or organization) may be maintained, and
the purchasing
organization may receive advertising benefits by using franks.
[000197] Similarly, franks 110 may be hidden (i.e., detectable only by
computer/networlc systems) or visible. When visible, such franks 110 may be
presented as
icons, logos, pictures or otherwise.
[000198] 19. Targeted Franlced E-mail
[000199] Various methods exist for profiling an Internet user's interests. One
such
method is disclosed in United States Patent No. 5,790,785, entitled "World
Wide Web
Registration Processing System," naming John R. Klug as inventor, and issued
on August 4,
1998, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety (hereinafter
referred to as
"Klug"). The present franking system may be combined with this user
profiling/registrar
concept in order to provide a more cost effective means for franlcing mass
e-mails/communications 105. By accessing various user profiles as taught by
Klug, mass
e-mailers may determine which recipients are most likely to review the
contents of a spam
e-mail/communication 105. In this manner, mass e-mailers may frank
e-mails/communications going only to those recipients whose user profiles
indicate that they
would likely be interested in the e-mail/communication content. Not only does
this permit
the placement of advertising e-mails/communications 105 before recipients who
may have
one or more rules in place to treat such communications as franked in a high
category due to
interest, it ensures that those recipients are likely to actually treat the e-
mail/communication
as a high category document. Accordingly, the cost of franking e-
mails/communications 105
to uninterested recipients may be reduced.
[000200] Further, where a franking system has been implemented including
multiple
service classes, mass e-mailers may employ the user profiling concepts of Klug
to assign
appropriate service classes and/or franks 110 to their e-mails/communications
105. For
example, if one recipient's user profile indicates that he is highly likely to
be interested in the
mass e-mailing's contents, the sender may decide to frank an e-
mail/communication 105 to
that particular recipient as a second or third class franked e-
mail/communication. By doing
so, the sender has some assurance that the e-mail/communication 105 is, in
fact, presented to
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the recipient with some category corresponding to the associated frank,
relying on the
recipient's inherent interest to open and review the e-mail/communication, but
minimizing
the franking cost by selecting a lower service class. On the other hand, if
the sender transmits
a mass e-mail/communication 105 to a recipient whose user profile indicates
that he or she
may be uninterested in the contents of the mass e-mail/communication, this
disinterest may
be offset by franlcing the e-mail/communication for a higher service class.
That is, the sender
may rely on a recipient's inherent desire to review the contents of a high
category
e-mail/communication 105 to offset the recipient's disinterest in the contents
of the mass
e-mail/communication.
[000201] Similarly, recipients may designate certain classes or types of
e-mails/communications 105 to be received, regardless of whether these
e-mails/communications are franked or not. For example, a recipient may
designate all
e-mails/communications 105 having certain words in the subject line (such as
"advertisement," "automobile," or "diploma") as receivable, regardless of
whether or not the
e-mail/communication is franlced. Further, the recipient may choose to receive
all
e-mails/communications corresponding to interests, classes, or products in
which the
recipient has previously registered an interest with the Klug user
profiling/registrar system (or
a like system). In this manner, a mass e-mailer/communicator may access
registrar data from
Klug, determine a recipient's areas of interests, and be assured that the
recipient will receive
the e-mail/communication 105, regardless of whether the e-mail/communication
is franlced.
[000202] 20. Web-Based Embodiment
[000203] Generally speaking, the above embodiments have been described in the
context of a sending 115 and receiving 125 e-mail/communication server. Such
servers rely
on both the sender's and recipient's systems running an e-mail/communication
application
program 600, 700, 805. However, in many cases, either senders or recipients
are limited in
their e-mail/communication 105 access. For example, many corporations place
firewalls
around corporate e-mail/communication servers 615, 225 in order to limit
electronic mail
access by their employees. Accordingly, the present invention also
contemplates a Web
based embodiment. A sender or recipient may access a dedicated Web site which
enables
them not only to send or receive electronic mail (such as HOTMAIL or YAHOO
MAIL)
and/or other forms of communications but also has inherent franlcing
functionality. A sender
may efficiently and easily franlc any and all e-mails/communications 105 sent
from such a
Web based embodiment. Similarly, a recipient accessing this embodiment may be
assured
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that, unlike an e-mail/communication application 130 resident behind a
firewall, the Web
based server will properly filter and categorize all franked communications
105.
[000204] In particular, it is to be appreciated that a Web based
e-mail/communication system embodiment generally will rely upon HTML, XML,
Flash,
Java or similarly formatted web pages to provide the desired e-
mail/communication
functionalities. In particular, e-mails/communications 105 between a sender
and a recipient
commonly are first converted from a sender's e-mail format or other
communications format
into one supported by a recipient's communications service (as provided by an
ISP) and Web
browser. Such formats commonly include HTML and the like. By associating
franlcs 110
with e-mails/communications 105, versus incorporating such franks within such
e-mails/communications, determinations of which e-mails/communications to
present to a
recipient using a Web based communications system embodiment may be expedited
by not
having to convert the entire communication prior to processing a frank
associated with the
communication. Similarly, when Web based embodiments are utilized,
e-mails/communications 105 and their associated franks 110 may provide for
additional
features and/or functions over those commonly supported by a mail exchange
server
embodiment.
[000205] 21. Emergency Broadcast Service Embodiment
[000206] Another embodiment may be used to transmit emergency
e-mails/communications 105 to a plurality of system recipients. For example,
severe weather
warnings, local emergencies, or even e-mails/communications 105 relating to
national
security may be quiclcly disseminated to a wide group of e-mail/communication
recipients.
Such emergency e-mails/communications may, for example, be franked with an
"emergency"
frank 110. Access to such emergency franlcs may be limited to an authorized
list of users, or
users from a specific Internet protocol or domain.
[000207] Such an embodiment may add additional, limited-access service classes
for
use only by designated individuals or agencies. Sample limited-access service
classes
include an Emergency Broadcast service class and a National Interest service
class. By
restricting access to these service classes, the present embodiment ensures
that extremely
important news bulletins or the like may be handled quickly and assigned a
category above
that of standard first-class or high-category franked e-mails/communications
105.
[00020] Essentially, when an authorized sender initiates an e-
mail/communication
105 across the franlcing system 120, 915, and classified as one of these ultra-
high categories,
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the e-mail/communication is specially franked and transmitted as above.
However, instead of
transmitting the franlced e-mail/communication 105 to a single recipient or
list of recipients,
all (or a sub-set of) network nodes 135 and ISPs 215, 225 associated or in
communication
with the franking system 120, 915 may be configured to receive the franked
e-mail/communication 105. Further, such nodes 135 may receive instructions to
disseminate
the franked e-mail/communication 105 to all registered system recipients.
[000209] Additionally, e-mails/communications 105 franked with such a service
class may be specially designated to ignore filtering, checking, and virus
software. Such an
embodiment may be implemented by including a hard-coded filter command, one
that cannot
be changed by a recipient, instructing the receiving e-mail/communication
server 315 to
bypass all filtering or checking software. E-mail/communication software may
be required to
be compliant with such a system in order to ensure that emergency broadcast
e-mails/communications 105 are immediately displayed on a recipient's system
125,
regardless of what the recipient is doing when the e-mail/communication is
received. For
example, a dedicated window may be popped-up on a recipient's system 125
containing the
e-mail/communication 105. Examples of possible e-mails/communications suitable
for use
with this embodiment and designated in an emergency category may include
tornado
warnings, terrorist attacks, sniper attacks, and so forth. For such e-
mails/communications
105, the standard franking charges may be waived.
[000210] 22. Telephony-Based Embodiment
[000211] Another embodiment of the present invention may be suitable for use
in a
voice telephony-based environment. This embodiment may, for example, be used
by
telemarlceters to frank telemarketing calls. The embodiment may function
across a land-line,
cellular, IP, packet or other network topology. With respect to e-
mails/communications 105
or other computer files transmitted across a network to a telephone or other
end device, the
above disclosure embraces such concepts.
[000212] A telemarketer or other caller may contact a franking server 1000 to
purchase one or more franks 110 via his telephone 1030 , as detailed with
respect to Figs. 6-8.
The franking server 1000 may, for example, include a franking interface 1005
for handling a
frank request initiated from a caller's system 1010, as well as distributing
purchased franlcs.
The franlcing server 1000 may also include an account list 1015 maintaining a
list of all
senders who have established an account 310 with the franking server. For
reference,
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previously-discussed franking servers 305, 900, 905, 910 may also include
these elements
1000, 1005.
[000213] The telemarlceter may "attach" a frank 110 to his or her telephone
call or
other telephone communication 105. Generally, the frank may take the form of
an electronic
code recognized by a central office, muter, or local switch, exchange,
recipient's telephone
equipment, or other telephone network node. Alternately, the franlc 110 may be
an audio tone
preceding the telephone call 105. Different classes of franks may use
different codes or
tones. Further, different franlcs within the same class may also use different
codes or tones,
in order to incorporate data such as expiration dates and so on. The caller's
system may
include a franking application 1035 and/or database 1040, with functionality
as generally
discussed above with respect to other embodiments.
[000214] Once the franked call 105 is received by a network node 1020, the
telephone networlc node may verify the frank's 110 authenticity. Generally,
this verification
may take place using any of the methods previously described. The telephone
networlc node
1020 may then comlect the call to the recipient's telephone 1025. The franlc
class and related
information may be displayed on the recipient's caller identification
equipment, telephone, or
any other device connected to the telephone network 1040 and capable of
displaying
alphanumeric information or providing unique ring patterns.
[000215] Further, the recipient may configure his telephone 1025 or (generally
through the telephone company as proxy) a network node 1020, such as an
exchange or local
switch, to reject all incoming calls that do not include a frank 110 of a
given class or service
type. In this manner, the recipient may use a franlc to filter telephone
calls. Additionally, the
recipient may specify an approved caller list 235 of telephone numbers.
Numbers appearing
on this list 235 may always be presented to the recipient, regardless of
whether or not calls
originating from the number are franked.
[000216] 23. Instant Messaging Embodiments
[000217] Generally, the above embodiments may also be applied in an instant
messaging environment. Instant e-mails/communications 105 may be franked as
desired by a
sender, thus permitting a sender to indicate the relative importance of an
e-mail/communication. Further, senders may purchase franks 110 permitting them
to brealc
into an otherwise private instant messaging session to deliver a suitably
important
e-mail/communication.
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[000218] Generally, the handling, purchase, and transmission of franked
instant
e-mails/communications 105 is similar to that described above.
[000219] For example, one embodiment of the present invention may be
integrated
into or otherwise operate with an instant messaging application in order to
franlc incoming
and outgoing instant e-mails/communications 105. A user of the instant
messaging
application may configure the stand-alone software or the IM application to
only accept
franked incoming instant e-mails/communications 125. Alternately, the
embodiment may be
configured with various address or sender lists 235 as described above, in
order to allow the
recipient to receive unfranlced instant e-mails/communications 105 from
senders on the
designated sender list 235. With respect to an IM embodiment, the "sender"
refers to the
person initiating an instant e-mail/communication 105, while the "recipient"
refers to the
person receiving the e-mail/communication. Purchase of and information for IM
franks 110
may be carried out in any of the manners described elsewhere herein.
[000220] Additional frank 110 types may prove useful in an IM environment. For
example, one franlc 110 may be valid for a specific length or period of time.
For example, a
sender may frank an instant e-mail/communication 105 with a temporal frank
valid for a set
period of time, such as fifteen minutes. Continuing the example, the recipient
may configure
the embodiment to accept such a temporally franked e-mail/communication. The
frank 110
may effectively purchase a window of the recipient's time. From the first
moment an instant
e-mail/communication 105 bearing the temporal frank is received, the sender
may have IM
access to the recipient. After the time period specified by the temporal frank
expires, the
sender's instant messaging access to the recipient may be terminated.
[000221 ] This concept may be combined with any other type of frank 110. For
example, a sender may purchase a first class temporal franlc permitting him to
send first class
IM e-mails/communications 105 to a recipient for a limited period of time.
Similarly, senders
may purchase third class temporal franks, certified temporal francs,
registered temporal
franks incorporating some form of security discussed herein, and so on.
Generally, all of the
franks' 110 attributes expire when the temporal window expires. Thus, for
example, in the
case of a temporal franlc having security features, the security feature of
the franlc would
expire at the end of the temporal window.
[000222] Purchase and payment schemes for IM franlcs may be implemented in any
manner discussed herein with respect to other types of franlcs 110. As yet
another payment
option, senders may be charged continuously or on a time basis for an IM
frank. That is, the
final cost of a frank 110 may be computed after an IM session is terminated,
with the frank
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cost increasing with time of the session. For example, a first class franlc
may cover all instant
e-mails/communications 105 sent by a sender to a recipient during an instant
messaging
session. Rather than purchasing a single frank 110 for each instant e-
mail/communication
105 or a frank authenticating all e-mails/communications sent within a certain
period of time,
a sender may choose to purchase a franlc having a cost increasing with the
length of the IM
session. For example, a first class frank 110 might cost three cents per
minute regardless of
the number of e-mails/communications 105 sent by the sender to a recipient.
The frank 110
may be automatically renewed every minute until the sender affirmatively
terminates or pays
for the frank. Continuing the example, should the sender transmit five instant
e-mails/communications 105 within a single minute to a recipient, he may be
charged three
cents for that period (presuming the sender terminates the IM session at the
end of the
minute). If, however, the sender requires a five minute IM session to send the
same five
e-mails/communications 105 to a recipient, the frank 110 cost may be fifteen
cents. In yet
another embodiment, a frank 110 cost may vary not with the duration of the IM
session, but
rather with the number of e-mails/communications 105 transmitted by the
sender. Such a
frank may more closely tie the frank cost to the transmission cost (i.e.,
bandwidth) of the IM
session.
[000223] Additionally, any of the revenue sharing embodiments disclosed herein
may be used with an IM session.
[000224] 24. Short Message Service Embodiment
[000225] Another embodiment of the present invention may be utilized in
conjunction with short message services ("SMS") and/or the short message
service protocol
("SMP"). Any of the above features, embodiments and operations may be
generally applied
to an SMS environment. As is commonly appreciated, SMS/SMP enables a sender to
communicate a short (commonly less than 160 alpha-muneric characters) message
to a
recipient's mobile or cellular telecommunications device. Similar to paging,
SMS/SMP
utilizes SMS centers ("SMSC") to communicate SMS formatted messages to a
recipient. As
such, in one embodiment of the present invention, the SMSC associated with a
given
recipient may be configured to identify, process, filter, discard and route
SMS franlced
messages 105 to the recipient, upon establishment of a communications link
between a
recipient's device and a networlced communications center, such as a home
location register
("HLR"), wherein the HLR provides identification and routing information to a
mobile or
wireless communications device.
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[000226] Further, in an SMS embodiment the frank 110 may be included in the
160
characters provided in an SMS message 105. Alternately and/or additionally,
the franlc(s)
110 may be suitably provided in a packet header, trailer, or the lilce and
associated with a
given SMS message 105. Further, the recipient's device may be configured to
identify and
appropriately process franked SMS messages 105. Such processing may also
and/or
alternately be accomplished by the SMSC, an HLR or any other node along a
given
communications path.
[000227] 25. Franking and "Spoofed" E-mails/communications
[000228] One embodiment of the present invention may be configured to
facilitate
the sorting, distribution, and management of "spoofed" e-mails/cormnunications
105. As
used herein, the term "spoofed e-mail/communication" refers to an electronic
e-mail/communication 105 (such as an e-mail/communication) that mimics or
otherwise
improperly uses another's identifying information, such as an Internet
protocol ("IP")
address. For example, a spammer may employ the e-mail/communication address of
an
intended recipient's trusted friend in order to disguise the commercial nature
of his
e-mail/communication 105. When e-mail/communication addresses 105 are hijacked
or
spoofed in this manner, many filters (and even people) cannot initially
differentiate between
legitimate e-mails/communications of interest and spam.
[000229] An embodiment of the present invention may differentiate spoofed
e-mails/communications 105 from legitimate e-mails/communications in a number
of ways.
One method is by employing a variant of the address list 235 concept discussed
above. The
address list 235 may be set up not only to recognize certain e-
mail/communication addresses,
but also to associate a certain IP address with each e-mail/communication
address on the list.
This effectively implements a double filtering scheme: an e-mail/communication
105 must
not only originate from an e-mail/communication address in the address list
235, but the
corresponding IP address of the sender must match the IP address on file and
corresponding
to the approved sender's e-mail/communication 105 in the list. If both the
e-mail/communication and IP addresses do not match those in the approved
sender list, then
the embodiment may reject the e-mail/communication 105, deliver the e-
mail/communication
to the recipient's inbox or mail queue if the e-mail/communication is properly
franlced, or
otherwise manipulate the e-mail/communication in accordance with the
functionality of the
invention discussed herein and/or according to a user's wishes.
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[000230] In an alternate embodiment, the approved sender list 235 may consist
solely of a series of IP addresses rather than e-mail/communication addresses.
Since
e-mail/communication addresses are generally easier to spoof than IP
addresses, this address
list 235 implementation may minimize the acceptance of spoofed or otherwise
illegitimate
e-mails/communications 105.
[000231] Either of these address list 235 embodiments may be combined with any
form or manner of franking described here. For example, a user may permit
delivery of an
unfranlced e-mail/communication 105 by the embodiment if both the IP address
and
e-mail/communication address of the sender match entries on the address list
235. The user
may require a relatively inexpensive frank 110 (such as the third class
franlcs discussed
above) if only one of the IP and e-mail/communication addresses match entries
in the address
list 235. Continuing the example, the user may permit delivery of an e-
mail/communication
105 lacking either a matching IP or e-mail/communication address only when the
e-mail/communication carries a relatively expensive frank 110, such as the
first class franlc
described above.
[000232] It should be noted that many senders of e-mails/communications 105
across a network laclc a constant IP address. Some senders are assigned a
dynamic IP address
every time a networlc is initially accessed. However, even for such senders,
at least a portion
of the IP address generally corresponds to the recipient's ISP or other
service provider.
Accordingly, one embodiment may be configured to correlate partial IP
addresses with
sender email addresses in order to account for so-called dynamic IP addresses.
[000233] 26. Conclusion
[000234] While the present invention has been particularly shown and described
with reference to various embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those
skilled in the
art that various other changes in the form and details may be made without
departing from the
spirit and scope of the present invention. Further, features of different
embodiments detailed
above may be easily combined with one another to form yet further embodiments.
Accordingly, the proper scope of the invention is defined by the appended
claims.
