Patent ID: 7512788

Claim:
A distributed message exchange system for exchange of messages among a plurality of distributed message locations, comprising: an automatic group messaging agent located at a first message location of a group owner, said group messaging agent comprising: at least one group storage location in local storage comprising a dynamic address store server for determining members of a group dynamically out of a set of messaging addresses according to attributes and relationships to the group owner and to one another and a static address store for storing group identification information including group identity and identities of members of said group and additionally storing access control information of messaging accounts in association with group information, wherein said group is maintained in the context of a messaging account at said first message location, a group membership resolution module to retrieve group information from said at least one group storage location for messaging, and a group message distribution module to convert a single group message addressed to a group having naming scope and management domain in the context of the group message agent into a plurality of individual messages having group message routing information comprising naming scope, semantic context and management domain information for the group messaging agent, an individual message being provided for each group member, and for sending said plurality of individual messages to group members, wherein the identities of the group members are kept undisclosed to one another and said group message routing information is attached for successive group message exchanges; control means for verifying access control rights based on said access control information; and a plurality of messaging agents, one at each of successive ones of said plurality of message locations, to exchange electronic group messages anonymously with said plurality of message locations by transmitting group messages to said group messaging agent identified by said group message routing information, where said group message is distributed to said plurality of message locations.