Patent ID: 8073911

Claim:
A computerized messaging server in an electronic messaging system, comprising: a messaging module adapted to control a message database storing messages sent among users of the messaging system, at least one of the sent messages stored in the message database comprising a message container containing relational references pointing to a plurality of sent submessages stored externally to the message container in the message database, at least one of the sent submessages being one of a reply to and a forward of other sent submessages of the sent message; and a governance module adapted to control a governance policy database storing a compliance policy describing rules applicable to the sent submessages, the governance module further adapted to determine rules described by the compliance policy that are applicable to ones of the plurality of sent submessages, wherein different rules of the compliance policy are applicable to different ones of the plurality of sent submessages; wherein the messaging system is utilized by a set of entities in a population structure and wherein a rule of the compliance policy includes one or more rule elements describing whether the rule is applicable to a sent submessage, at least one of the rule elements selected from the group consisting of: a source element describing a population structure entity that is a source of the sent submessage; a target element describing a population structure entity that is a recipient of the sent submessage; and a rank describing a ranking of the rule relative to other rules in the compliance policy.