Patent ID: 7577711

Claim:
In a chat room communication message network including a plurality of display stations operated by a plurality of users to selectively send messages within a chronological sequence of messages to a central server and to receive, at each station, a display of said chronological sequence of messages, a method enabling any user at a display station to restrict the display of a message within said sequence sent by said enabled user comprising: enabling a user at a display station to select a set of only users to receive a restricted message; enabling said enabled user to send said restricted message within said chronological sequence of messages; displaying said restricted message only in the chronological sequence of messages displays in the stations of said set of recipient users including an indicator indicating message is restricted and the sender of the message; and displaying said sequence of messages including said indicator on the display of said enabled sending user; wherein a supplemental chat room message network is provided between the senders and user recipients of restricted messages with the restricted messages chronologically interleaved with the unrestrictive messages in the chronological sequence of messages on the displays of said senders and user recipients.