SYSTEM FOR MANAGING E-MAIL TRAFFIC

摘要

According to a first embodiment of the invention, if an e-mail sender attempts to make too many connections within a predetermined period of time, the excess connections are automatically rejected. According to a second embodiment of the invention, an agreement is established between an e-mail sender and an e-mail recipient that states when the sender may send e-mail messages to the recipient. According to a third embodiment of the invention, trend data reflecting an amount of e-mail sent by a sender is collected. The trend data can be used to establish a rate limit for the sender. According to a fourth embodiment of the invention, separate rate limits are established for authenticated and unauthenticated mail from addresses. According to a fifth embodiment of the invention, a sender may have a rate at which their e-mail is transmitted reduced if they exceed predetermined rate limits.

主权项

1. A computer implemented method for managing network traffic, the method comprising, at a sender mail transfer agent:
receiving one or more outgoing messages from a sender; determining a threshold for the sender, wherein the threshold relates to outgoing messages that are allowed to be sent within a predetermined period of time; determining an outgoing rate for the sender, wherein the outgoing rate is the rate at which outgoing messages will be sent; determining a message count for the sender, wherein the message count relates to messages sent within the predetermined period of time; sending the one or more outgoing messages in accordance with the outgoing rate for the sender, incrementing the message count for the sender according to the one or more outgoing messages sent; and responsive to the message count for the sender exceeding the threshold for the sender, reducing the outgoing rate for the sender.