Patent ID: 7542936

Claim:
A method implemented in an email application program, the method comprising: the email application program receiving an electronic mail message sent to a customer, the electronic mail message including an inaccessible portion of information and a price to access the inaccessible portion of information; the email application program displaying a list of received messages, with each message displayed in the list showing a field for a subject of a corresponding message in the list and a separate field for a price to access an inaccessible portion of the corresponding message in the list; the email application program receiving a request to access the inaccessible portion of information in the electronic mail message; in response to receiving the request, the email application program communicating with a central database to charge a pre-established user account pre-associated with the customer, according to the price to access the inaccessible portion of information; and the email application program displaying the inaccessible portion of information to the customer, in response to completion of charging the pre-established user account of the customer according to the price to access the inaccessible portion of information.