Patent ID: 7996471

Claim:
A method of distributing electronic message to subscribers of an electronic message distribution system, the method comprising: receiving an electronic message having an electronic message subject-category-identifier; determining whether the electronic message was sent from an authorized sender of mass electronic messages; responsive to a determination that the electronic message was sent from an unauthorized sender, dropping the electronic message from distribution; responsive to a determination that the electronic message was sent from an authorized sender, determining if the electronic message has a message type of user generic, user specific, or conventional; responsive to the determination of the electronic message type, distributing the electronic message according to the message type and the electronic message subject-category-identifier, wherein an electronic message having the message type of user generic is distributed to all subscribers that have selected to receive messages for the subject-category identified in a recipient list of the electronic message, wherein a recipient email address for the electronic message of the message type user generic is a three level domain name and a third domain level of the recipient email address designates an action to be executed by the electronic message distribution system in distributing the electronic message, compiling delivery information on distributed electronic messages, the delivery information including a first percentage of electronic messages in a given subject-category that are accessed, a second percentage of the electronic messages in the given subject-category that are downloaded, and a third percentage of the electronic messages in the given subject-category that are opened; and reporting the delivery information to the authorized sender of the mass electronic messages.