Patent ID: 7444380

Claim:
A method for dispensing permissions for delivery of electronic messages, comprising the steps of: receiving, by a sender-code dispensing computer, a recipient-address from a sender; generating, by the sender-code dispensing computer, a sender-code based on an alpha-numeric seed (seed), the seed previously generated for the recipient-address by a seed-generating computer, the sender-code for inserting into an electronic message for delivery from the sender to the recipient-address; and transmitting, by the sender-code dispensing computer, the sender-code to the sender; whereby an incoming message-handler, that is distinct from the sender-code dispensing computer and the seed-generating computer, (a) receives the electronic message sent to the recipient-address, (b) generates a verification sender-code based on the seed previously generated for the recipient-address by the seed-generating computer, (c) verifies the sender-code inserted in the electronic message by comparing the sender-code with the verification sender-code generated by the incoming mail-handler, and (d) sorts the electronic message based on the outcome of the verification, thereby stopping delivery of unsolicited bulk electronic messages.