Patent ID: 8155293

Claim:
A method for controlling communications from a first communications address identified by a service user, comprising: receiving data of a communication to a third party communications address from the first communications address; determining, by a network controller, whether the first communications address is a restricted address for which the service user has elected to disallow communications, whether the third party communications address is a priority communications address for which the service user has elected to allow communications when the first communications address is the restricted address for which the service user has elected to disallow communications, and whether an identification number received from a party requesting the communication is a personal identification number specified by the service user when the third party communications address is not the priority communications address and the first communications address is the restricted address, disallowing the communication when the identification number is not the personal identification number, the third party communications address is not the priority communications address and the first communications address is the restricted address; determining whether the third party communications address is an escape address for which the service user does not have an option to disallow communications, and disallowing the communication when the third party communications address is not the escape address, and the identification number is not the personal identification number, the third party communications address is not the priority communications address and the first communications address is the restricted address.