Mailing List Archive

Email filtering patent
Doesn't look like it applies to SA, but interesting nonetheless.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/55/36666.html
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=6,650,890.WKU.&OS=PN/6,650,890&RS=PN/6,650,890

The start of the patent:

1. A method of providing electronic messaging services in an email network
comprising a sending email server and a destination email server, wherein
emails may be delivered from the sending email server to the destination
email server via an electronic message delivery path through existing
Internet infrastructure, the method comprising:

(a) inserting an intermediate pre-processing service into the electronic
message delivery path by changing a Domain Name Server entry containing an IP
address of the destination email server to contain an IP address of the
intermediate pre-processing service;

(b) receiving in the intermediate pre-processing service email message data
addressed to the destination email server that has been routed through the
intermediate pre-processing service; and

(c) simultaneously with receiving the email message data in the intermediate
pre-processing service, processing the e-mail message data and, if the
processing of the email message data instructs delivery to the destination
email server, delivering the email message data to that server.

So 1(c) doesn't apply to SA, unless the sysadmin configures the server to
quarentine spam rather than simply adding markup, and 1(a) doesn't apply if
SA is integrated into the destination server, rather than an intermediate
mail server.

--
Give a man a match, and he'll be warm for a minute, but set him on
fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

Advanced SPAM filtering software: http://spamassassin.org
Re: Email filtering patent [ In reply to ]
Matthew Cline wrote:
> if the processing of the email message data
> instructs delivery to the destination email server,
> delivering the email message data to that server.

So if my server uses ETRN to request queued mail, the patent would not
apply? If mail is sorted into two folders for graymail and ham and
another process configurable by the end user delivers one or both, then
that would not apply?

-- sidney