Patent ID: 7954146

Claim:
A method comprising: logging a first client device into a server; logging a second client device into the server; accessing, using the server, a first user list associated with a first user of the first client device; accessing, using the server, a second user list associated with a second user of the second client device, wherein the first user list and the second user list are maintained separately from one another; analyzing, using the server, the accessed first user list to determine whether an identifier of the second user is included in the first user list; analyzing, using the server, the accessed second user list to determine whether an identifier of the first user is included in the second user list; regulating, using the server, a communications pathway between the first client device and the second client device based on both the determination of whether the identifier of the first user is included on the second user list and the determination of whether the identifier of the second user is included on the first user list.