Patent ID: 7155608

Claim:
A method for blocking unsolicited e-mail transmitted to an e-mail server at an Internet Service Provider (ISP), the method comprising: receiving a user identification (USERID) and a password associated with a customer; retrieving a plurality of data associated with the customer based on the USERID and password; authenticating the customer using the retrieved plurality of data; dynamically adding an IP address assigned to the customer to a plurality of valid IP addresses associated with the ISP; receiving outgoing SMTP traffic from the customer; in response to receiving the outgoing SMTP traffic, determining, at the e-mail server, the e-mail server being configured to receive and maintain at least one e-mail, whether the customer is associated with a valid IP address; and in response to determining that the customer is associated with a valid IP address, logging the customer onto the e-mail server using the IP address and the plurality of data used to authenticate the customer, and sending the outgoing SMTP traffic to a recipient, wherein the outgoing SMTP traffic is sent to the recipient only in response to determining that the customer is associated with a valid IP address.