Patent ID: 8126969

Claim:
A method for message processing at a receiving device comprising: receiving a message from a sender; sending a query comprising dissemination attempt information and a portion of content of the message to a network server; receiving a dissemination control instruction from the network server in response to the query, the dissemination control instruction based at least on a first dissemination rule determined by an evaluation rule configured to select one of a plurality of applicable dissemination rules, the plurality of applicable dissemination rules defined by the sender and including a dissemination rule related to a number of times the message may be disseminated, a dissemination rule that is effective only during a specified time period, and a dissemination rule related to a search pattern that may be matched against the portion of content of the message; transmitting a request for dissemination permission to the sender if the dissemination control instruction comprises a permission instruction; and allowing dissemination of the message to another recipient only upon receipt of a permission message from the sender.