E-mail certification service

Abstract

A method is provided to handle an electronic mail message such that the receiver of the e-mail message can verify the integrity of the message. A request is provided from a sender's side to a service. The request includes information regarding the e-mail message. The service processes at least a portion of the request to generate a result. For example, the service may encrypt the portion of the request, according to a public/private key encryption scheme, to generate a digital signature as the result. The service provides the result to the sender's side. At the sender's side, the result is incorporated into the e-mail message and the result-incorporated message is transmitted via an e-mail system. At the receiver's side, the result-incorporated e-mail message is processed to assess the integrity of the received e-mail message.

1 - 49 . (canceled)  
   
   
       50 . A method of handling an electronic mail (“e-mail”) message, comprising: 
 a) at a sender's side, providing to a service a request comprising information regarding the e-mail message;    b) at the service, 
 b1) processing at least a portion of the request to determine a result; and  
 b2) providing the result to the sender's side;  
   c) at the sender's side, 
 c1) incorporating the result into the e-mail message, and  
 c2) transmitting the result-incorporated e-mail message via an e-mail system;  
   d) at the receiver's side, 
 d1) receiving an e-mail message which is nominally the result-incorporated e-mail message;  
 d2) processing the received result-incorporated e-mail message to assess the integrity of the e-mail message,  
   wherein:    the service includes a plurality of processing portions; and the method includes determining a particular one of the plurality of processing portions to utilize to determine the result.    
   
   
       51 . The method of  claim 50 , wherein: 
 determining a particular one of the plurality of processing portions at the service is based on information provided in association with the request from the sender's side.    
   
   
       52 . The method of  claim 51 , wherein: 
 the information provided in association with the request from the sender's side includes information previously provided from the service to the sender's side.    
   
   
       53 . The method of  claim 52 , further comprising: 
 determining that the information provided to the service from the sender's side is inappropriate for use to determine the particular one of the plurality of processing portions; and    based on determining that the information provided to the service from the sender's side is inappropriate for use to determine the particular one of the plurality of processing portions, at the service, determining a particular one of the plurality of processing portions based on other than the information provided in association with the request from the sender's side.    
   
   
       54 . The method of  claim 53 , further comprising: 
 after determining a particular one of the plurality of processing portions based on other than the information provided in association with the request from the sender's side, providing information regarding the determination back to the sender, to be provided to the service in subsequent requests.    
   
   
       55 . A method of handling an electronic mail (“e-mail”) message, comprising: 
 a) at a sender's side, providing to a service a request comprising information regarding the e-mail message;    b) at the service, 
 b1) processing at least a portion of the request to determine a result; and  
 b2) providing the result to the sender's side;  
   c) at the sender's side, 
 c1) incorporating the result into the e-mail message, and  
 c2) transmitting the result-incorporated e-mail message via an e-mail system;  
   d) at the receiver's side, 
 d1) receiving an e-mail message which is nominally the result-incorporated e-mail message;  
 d2) processing the received result-incorporated e-mail message to assess the integrity of the e-mail message,  
   wherein:    processing the received result-incorporated e-mail message to assess the integrity of the received e-mail message includes 
 processing the received e-mail message to nominally reproduce the result determined at the service;  
 comparing the result and the nominally reproduced result;  
 assessing the integrity of the e-mail messaging based on the result of the comparing step.  
   
   
   
       56 . The method of  claim 55 , wherein: 
 assessing the integrity of the e-mail message includes determining whether the result and the nominally reproduced result are the same within a particular threshold.    
   
   
       57 . The method of  claim 55 , wherein: 
 processing the received e-mail message to nominally reproduce the result determined at the service includes modifying the received e-mail to reverse the effect of modifications that typically legitimately occur during e-mail transport.    
   
   
       58 . The method of  claim 55 , further comprising: 
 at the sender's side, creating the information regarding the e-mail message.    
   
   
       59 . The method of  claim 58 , wherein: 
 creating the information regarding the e-mail message includes filtering at least portions of the e-mail message to create the information regarding the e-mail message.    
   
   
       60 . The method of  claim 59 , wherein: 
 processing the received e-mail message to nominally reproduce the result determined at the service includes filtering at least portions of the received e-mail message in a manner similar to the filtering at the sender's side.    
   
   
       61 . A method of handling an electronic mail (“e-mail”) message, comprising: 
 a) at a sender's side, providing to a service a request comprising information regarding the e-mail message;    b) at the service, 
 b1) processing at least a portion of the request to determine a result; and  
 b2) providing the result to the sender's side;  
   c) at the sender's side,    c1) incorporating the result into the e-mail message, and 
 c2) transmitting the result-incorporated e-mail message via an e-mail system;  
   d) at the receiver's side, 
 d1) receiving an e-mail message which is nominally the result-incorporated e-mail message;  
 d2) processing the received result-incorporated e-mail message to assess the integrity of the e-mail message, including  
   processing the received e-mail message to ascertain the service-determined result;    nominally reproducing the result; and    comparing the ascertained service determined-result and the nominally-reproduced result.    
   
   
       62 . The method of  claim 61 , wherein: 
 processing the received e-mail message to ascertain the service-determined result includes accessing the service-determined result using a public key associated with a private key used by the service to sign the service-determined result.    
   
   
       63 . The method of  claim 62 , wherein the step of processing the received e-mail message to ascertain the service-determined result includes accessing the public key from storage at the receiver's side.  
   
   
       64 . The method of  claim 63 , wherein accessing the public key from storage at the receiver's side includes accessing the storage using an identification indicator provided by the service with the e-mail message.  
   
   
       65 . The method of  claim 64 , wherein the identification indicator is provided by the service with the e-mail message in plain text.  
   
   
       66 . The method of  claim 64 , wherein accessing the public key from a storage at the receiver's side includes, determining if there is a public key in the storage at the receiver's side associated with the identification indicator and, if not, accessing the public key from the service.  
   
   
       67 . The method of  claim 66 , wherein: 
 determining if there is a public key in the storage at the receiver's side associated with the identification indicator includes determining if the identification indicator is in a list of identification indicators associated with public keys in the storage at the receiver's side.    
   
   
       68 . The method of  claim 66 , wherein: 
 accessing the public key from the service includes communicating between the receiver's side and the service according to a secure communication protocol.    
   
   
       69 . The method of  claim 63 , further comprising: 
 in conjunction with providing the result to the sender's side, providing a notification from the service to the sender that at least one additional public key is available to be requested by the sender from the service; and    on the sender's side, requesting the at least one additional public key from the service.    
   
   
       70 . The method of  claim 69 , wherein the notification from the service to the sender is provided to the sender's side prior to one or more effective dates associated with the at least one additional public key.  
   
   
       71 . The method of  claim 70 , wherein the service provides the notifications to senders according to predicted characteristics associated with responding to requests from senders requesting the at least one additional public key from the service.  
   
   
       72 . A method of handling an electronic mail (“e-mail”) message, comprising: 
 a) at a sender's side, providing to a service a request comprising information regarding the e-mail message;    b) at the service, 
 b1) processing at least a portion of the request to determine a result; and  
 b2) providing the result to the sender's side;  
   c) at the sender's side, 
 c1) incorporating the result into the e-mail message, and  
 c2) transmitting the result-incorporated e-mail message via an e-mail system;  
   d) at the receiver's side, 
 d1) receiving an e-mail message which is nominally the result-incorporated e-mail message;  
 d2) processing the received result-incorporated e-mail message to assess the integrity of the e-mail message,  
   further comprising:    determining whether the e-mail message which is nominally the result-incorporated e-mail message is actually a result-incorporated e-mail message; if the e-mail message is not actually a result-incorporated e-mail message, performing a first particular action,    wherein:    the first particular action includes causing an invitation to be sent by e-mail to the sender of the received e-mail message, to subscribe to the service.    
   
   
       73 . The method of  claim 72 , wherein: causing an invitation to be sent to the sender includes causing an invitation to be sent to the sender without the involvement of the service.  
   
   
       74 . The method of  claim 73 , wherein: 
 causing an invitation to be sent to the sender without the involvement of the service includes causing an invitation to be sent to the sender directly via the e-mail system of the recipient.    
   
   
       75 . The method of  claim 72 , wherein: 
 causing an invitation to be sent to the sender of the received e-mail message includes refraining from causing an invitation to be sent under particular conditions.    
   
   
       76 . The method of  claim 75 , wherein: 
 the particular conditions include the sender is incapable of subscribing to the service.    
   
   
       77 . The method of  claim 75 , wherein: 
 the particular conditions include the sender is incapable of subscribing to the service because the e-mail client software used by the sender is incompatible with the service.    
   
   
       78 . The method of  claim 75 , wherein: 
 the particular conditions include the recipient has caused an invitation to be sent to the sender within a particular amount of time previous.    
   
   
       79 . The method of  claim 75 , wherein: 
 a particular format of the invitation is selectable by the recipient.    
   
   
       80 . A method of handling an electronic mail (“e-mail”) message, comprising: 
 a) at a sender's side, providing to a service a request comprising information regarding the e-mail message;    b) at the service, 
 b1) processing at least a portion of the request to determine a result; and  
 b2) providing the result to the sender's side;  
   c) at the sender's side, 
 c1) incorporating the result into the e-mail message, and  
 c2) transmitting the result-incorporated e-mail message via an e-mail system;  
   d) at the receiver's side, 
 d1) receiving an e-mail message which is nominally the result-incorporated e-mail message;  
 d2) processing the received result-incorporated e-mail message to assess the integrity of the e-mail message,  
   further comprising:    at the receiver's side, determining whether the received e-mail message is an invitation to the receiver to subscribe to the service; and    when it is determined that the received e-mail message is an invitation to the receiver to subscribe to the service, taking a particular action.    
   
   
       81 . The method of  claim 80 , wherein: 
 the particular action includes making the invitation invisible to the receiver.    
   
   
       82 . A method of handling an electronic mail (“e-mail”) message, comprising: 
 a) at a sender's side, providing to a service a request comprising information regarding the e-mail message;    b) at the service, 
 b1) processing at least a portion of the request to determine a result; and  
 b2) providing the result to the sender's side;  
   c) at the sender's side, 
 c1) incorporating the result into the e-mail message, and  
 c2) transmitting the result-incorporated e-mail message via an e-mail system;  
   d) at the receiver's side, 
 d1) receiving an e-mail message which is nominally the result-incorporated e-mail message;  
 d2) processing the received result-incorporated e-mail message to assess the integrity of the e-mail message,  
   wherein:    determining whether the received e-mail message is an invitation to the receiver to subscribe to the service includes inspecting a header of the received e-mail message.    
   
   
       83 . A method of handling an electronic mail (“e-mail”) message, comprising: 
 a) at a sender's side, providing to a service a request comprising information regarding the e-mail message;    b) at the service, 
 b1) processing at least a portion of the request to determine a result; and  
 b2) providing the result to the sender's side;  
   c) at the sender's side, 
 c1) incorporating the result into the e-mail message, and  
 c2) transmitting the result-incorporated e-mail message via an e-mail system;  
   d) at the receiver's side, 
 d1) receiving an e-mail message which is nominally the result-incorporated e-mail message;  
 d2) processing the received result-incorporated e-mail message to assess the integrity of the e-mail message,  
   wherein:    inspecting a header of the received e-mail message includes determining the presence of a particular indicia.    
   
   
       84 . The method of  claim 83 , wherein: 
 the particular indicia is a particular text string.    
   
   
       85 . A method of composing and distributing content, comprising: 
 using a web browser program at a client location, interacting with a web-based service to compose content desired to be provided to at least one recipient;    using the browser program, interacting with an e-mail program at the client location to cause the e-mail program to send at least one e-mail message to the at least one recipient including the composed content.    
   
   
       86 . The composing and distributing method of  claim 85 , wherein: 
 no identifiable characteristics of the at least one recipient are provided to the web-based service.    
   
   
       87 . The composing and distributing method of  claim 86 , wherein: 
 the identifiable characteristics not provided to the web-based service include e-mail addresses of the at least one recipient.    
   
   
       88 . A method of handling an electronic mail (“e-mail”) message, comprising: 
 a) at a sender's side, providing to a service a request comprising information regarding the e-mail message;    b) at the service, 
 b1) processing at least a portion of the request to determine a result; and  
 b2) providing the result to the sender's side;  
   c) at the sender's side, 
 c1) incorporating the result into the e-mail message, and  
 c2) transmitting the result-incorporated e-mail message via an e-mail system;  
   d) at the receiver's side, 
 d1) receiving an e-mail message which is nominally the result-incorporated e-mail message;  
 d2) processing the received result-incorporated e-mail message to assess the integrity of the e-mail message,  
   further comprising:    at the receiver's side, determining that a received e-mail message does not have a result incorporated therein; and    based on the result of the determining step, causing an invitation to subscribe to the service to be transmitted to the sender of the received e-mail message.    
   
   
       89 . A method of handling an electronic mail (“e-mail”) message, comprising: 
 a) at a sender's side, providing to a service a request comprising information regarding the e-mail message;    b) at the service, 
 b1) processing at least a portion of the request to determine a result; and  
 b2) providing the result to the sender's side;  
   c) at the sender's side, 
 c1) incorporating the result into the e-mail message, and  
 c2) transmitting the result-incorporated e-mail message via an e-mail system;  
   d) at the receiver's side, 
 d1) receiving an e-mail message which is nominally the result-incorporated e-mail message;  
 d2) processing the received result-incorporated e-mail message to assess the integrity of the e-mail message,  
   further comprising:    determining the sender of the received e-mail message by processing a reply-to field in the received e-mail message.    
   
   
       90 . The method of  claim 88 , wherein: 
 causing an invitation to be transmitted is filtered based on characteristics associated with the sender of the received e-mail message.    
   
   
       91 . The method of  claim 90 , wherein: 
 the characteristics include whether an invitation was, at the receiver's side, previously caused to be transmitted to the sender.    
   
   
       92 . The method of  claim 91 , wherein: 
 the characteristics include an amount of time that has passed since an invitation was, at the receiver's side, previously caused to be transmitted to the sender.    
   
   
       93 . A method of handling an electronic mail (“e-mail”) message, comprising: 
 a) at a sender's side, providing to a service a request comprising information regarding the e-mail message;    b) at the service, 
 b1) processing at least a portion of the request to determine a result; and  
 b2) providing the result to the sender's side;  
   c) at the sender's side, 
 c1) incorporating the result into the e-mail message, and  
 c2) transmitting the result-incorporated e-mail message via an e-mail system;  
   d) at the receiver's side, 
 d1) receiving an e-mail message which is nominally the result-incorporated e-mail message;  
 d2) processing the received result-incorporated e-mail message to assess the integrity of the e-mail message,  
   further comprising:    providing, from the service to the receiver's side, information regarding the sender.    
   
   
       94 . The method of  claim 93 , further comprising: 
 transmitting a request for the information regarding the sender from the receiver's side to the service.    
   
   
       95 . The method of  claim 94 , wherein: 
 transmitting the request for information regarding the sender is in response to activation of a user interface item at the receiver's side.    
   
   
       96 . The method of  claim 95 , wherein: the user interface item is a toolbar item incorporated into an e-mail client program at the receiver's side.  
   
   
       97 . The method of  claim 95 , wherein: 
 the information regarding the sender includes information regarding an indication of trust associated with the sender.    
   
   
       98 . The method of  claim 97 , wherein: 
 the indication of trust associated with the sender is an indication of one of a plurality of distinct levels of trust associated with the sender.    
   
   
       99 . The method of  claim 98 , wherein: 
 each of the plurality of distinct levels of trust is indicated by a separate color.    
   
   
       100 . The method of  claim 94 , further comprising: 
 at the receiver's side, generating a contact record for the sender, associated with the e-mail client program of the receiver, based on the information regarding the sender provided from the service.    
   
   
       101 . The method of  claim 100 , wherein: 
 generating the contact record for the sender includes: 
 determining whether there is a contact record, compatible with the e-mail client program of the receiver, available at the service; and  
 based on a determination that there is a compatible contact record available at the service, generating the contact record associated with the e-mail client program of the receiver by receiving a copy of the compatible contact record from the service.  
   
   
   
       102 . The method of  claim 101 , further comprising: 
 based on a determination that there is not a compatible contact record available at the service, generating the contact record associated with the e-mail client program of the receiver by constructing the contact record based on information about the sender provided from the service.    
   
   
       103 . A method of handling an electronic mail (“e-mail”) message, comprising: 
 a) at a sender's side, providing to a service a request comprising information regarding the e-mail message;    b) at the service, 
 b1) processing at least a portion of the request to determine a result; and  
 b2) providing the result to the sender's side;  
   c) at the sender's side, 
 c1) incorporating the result into the e-mail message, and  
 c2) transmitting the result-incorporated e-mail message via an e-mail system;  
   d) at the receiver's side, 
 d1) receiving an e-mail message which is nominally the result-incorporated e-mail message;  
 d2) processing the received result-incorporated e-mail message to assess the integrity of the e-mail message,  
   wherein:    the request further comprises sender verification information; and the method further comprises at the service, processing the sender verification information,    further comprising:    providing the sender verification information from a database associated with an operating system of the client computer at the sender's side.    
   
   
       104 . The method of  claim 103 , further comprising: 
 automatically synchronizing the sender verification information in the operating system database and corresponding sender verification information at the service.    
   
   
       105 . A method of handling an electronic mail (“e-mail”) message, comprising: 
 a) at a sender's side, providing to a service a request comprising information regarding the e-mail message;    b) at the service, 
 b1) processing at least a portion of the request to determine a result; and  
 b2) providing the result to the sender's side;  
   c) at the sender's side, 
 c1) incorporating the result into the e-mail message, and  
 c2) transmitting the result-incorporated e-mail message via an e-mail system;  
   d) at the receiver's side, 
 d1) receiving an e-mail message which is nominally the result-incorporated e-mail message;  
 d2) processing the received result-incorporated e-mail message to assess the integrity of the e-mail message,  
   wherein:    the request further comprises sender verification information; and the method further comprises at the service, processing the sender verification information,    further comprising:    providing the sender verification information from storage associated with the client computer, at the sender's side; and    automatically synchronizing the sender verification information in the storage associated with the client computer and corresponding sender verification information at the service, while the user at the sender's side is logged in to the service.    
   
   
       106 . The method of  claim 105 , wherein: 
 the automatically synchronizing step that occurs while the user at the sender's side is logged in to the service is a result of the computer at the sender's side executing plug-in code associated with a browser program, via which the user at the sender's side is logged in to the service, executing on the client of the sender.    
   
   
       107 . The method of  claim 105 , wherein: 
 the automatically synchronizing step includes: 
 at the service, modifying an update token when the user at the sender's side modifies the sender verification information at the service; and  
 at the client of the sender, comparing an update token stored at the computer of the sender's side to the update token at the service and, when the update token stored at the computer of the sender's side is different from the update token at the service,  
   updating the sender verification information at the computer of the sender's side to be synchronized with the sender verification information at the service; and    changing the update token stored at the computer of the sender's side to match the update token at the service.    
   
   
       108 . A method of handling an electronic mail (“e-mail”) message, comprising: 
 a) at a sender's side, providing to a service a request comprising information regarding the e-mail message;    b) at the service, 
 b1) processing at least a portion of the request to determine a result; and  
 b2) providing the result to the sender's side;  
   c) at the sender's side, 
 c1) incorporating the result into the e-mail message, and  
 c2) transmitting the result-incorporated e-mail message via an e-mail system;  
   d) at the receiver's side, 
 d1) receiving an e-mail message which is nominally the result-incorporated e-mail message;  
 d2) processing the received result-incorporated e-mail message to assess the integrity of the e-mail message,  
   further comprising:    holding, in storage at the sender's side, configuration data useable by the computer at the sender's side to configure an interaction between the computer at the sender's side and the service; and    automatically synchronizing the configuration data between the storage at the sender's side and a storage area, at the service, associated with the sender.    
   
   
       109 . A method for communicating data between a client computer and a service, wherein the service maintains at least one key encryption key pair, the method comprising: 
 at the client computer,    using a public key that nominally corresponds to one of the at least one public/private key encryption pair maintained by the service, to encrypt a session key;    transmitting to the service the encrypted session key and an indication of the public/private key encryption pair used to encrypt the session key;    at the service, 
 based on the indication of the public/private key encryption pair, using the private key of the indicated service-maintained public/private key encryption pair to decrypt the encrypted session key.  
   
   
   
       110 . The method of  claim 109 , further comprising: 
 at the service, 
 prior to decrypting the encrypted session key, determining if the public/private key encryption pair indicated by the indication is a valid service-maintained public/private key encryption pair.  
   
   
   
       111 . The method of  claim 110 , further comprising: 
 at the service, if it is determined that the key encryption pair indicated by the indication is not a valid service-maintained public/private key encryption pair, transmitting an indication thereof to the client.    
   
   
       112 . The method of  claim 111 , further comprising: 
 at the client computer, based on receiving the indication from the service that the service has determined the key encryption pair is not a valid public/private key pair, repeating the session key encrypting step with a different public key that nominally corresponds to the lat least one of the public/private key encryption pair maintained by the service.    
   
   
       113 . The method of  claim 112 , wherein: 
 the method further comprises, at the client computer, obtaining the different public key by requesting the different public key from the service.    
   
   
       114 . The method of  claim 109 , further comprising: 
 at the client computer, 
 transmitting payload data encrypted using the session key; and at the service,  
 receiving the encrypted payload data and decrypting the payload data using the decrypted session key.  
   
   
   
       115 . The method of  claim 114 , further comprising: 
 at the service, 
 transmitting payload data encrypted using the decrypted session key; and at the client computer,  
 receiving the encrypted payload data and decrypting the payload data using the session key.  
   
   
   
       116 . The method of  claim 109 , further comprising: 
 at the service, 
 transmitting payload data encrypted using the decrypted session key; and at the client computer,  
 receiving the encrypted payload data and decrypting the payload data using the session key.  
   
   
   
       117 . The method of  claim 109 , further comprising: 
 exchanging encrypted payload data between the client and the service, the payload data encrypted using the session key.    
   
   
       118 . A method of handling an electronic mail (“e-mail”) message, comprising: 
 a) at a sender's side, providing to a service a request comprising information regarding the e-mail message;    b) at the service, 
 b1) processing at least a portion of the request to determine a result; and  
 b2) providing the result to the sender's side;  
 c) at the sender's side,  
 c1) incorporating the result into the e-mail message, and  
 c2) transmitting the result-incorporated e-mail message via an e-mail system;  
   d) at the receiver's side, 
 d1) receiving an e-mail message which is nominally the result-incorporated e-mail message;  
   d2) processing the received result-incorporated e-mail message to assess the integrity of the e-mail message,    wherein:    the request further comprises sender verification information; and the method further comprises at the service, processing the sender verification information,    wherein:    the request includes an indication of an e-mail address associated with the sender, an indication of an e-mail address associated with the recipient, and a digest of a body of the e-mail message; and processing at least a portion of the request to determine the result includes encrypting the request to determine the result,    wherein:    the indication of the e-mail address associated with the recipient includes a digest of the recipient associated e-mail address in combination with a salt.    
   
   
       119 . A method of handling an electronic mail (“e-mail”) message, comprising: 
 a) at a sender's side, providing to a service a request comprising information regarding the e-mail message;    b) at the service, 
 b1) processing at least a portion of the request to determine a result; and  
 b2) providing the result to the sender's side;  
   c) at the sender's side, 
 c1) incorporating the result into the e-mail message, and  
 c2) transmitting the result-incorporated e-mail message via an e-mail system;  
   d) at the receiver's side, 
 d1) receiving an e-mail message which is nominally the result-incorporated e-mail message;  
 d2) processing the received result-incorporated e-mail message to assess the integrity of the e-mail message,  
   wherein:    the request further comprises sender verification information; and the method further comprises at the service, processing the sender verification information,    wherein:    at least a portion of the request includes an indication of a characteristic associated with an intended recipient of the e-mail message.    
   
   
       120 . The method of  claim 119 , wherein: 
 the indication of a characteristic of associated with an intended recipient of the e-mail message is an indication of the e-mail address of the recipient.    
   
   
       121 . The method of  claim 119 , wherein: 
 the sender generates the indication of the recipient's e-mail address by processing the recipient's e-mail address.    
   
   
       122 . The method of  claim 121 , wherein: 
 processing the recipient's e-mail address includes generating a digest of data including the recipient's e-mail address.    
   
   
       123 . The method of  claim 122 , wherein: 
 the data including the recipient's e-mail address also includes a salt.    
   
   
       124 . The method of  claim 123 , wherein the request also includes the salt itself.  
   
   
       125 . The method of  claim 124 , wherein: 
 the result also includes the salt.    
   
   
       126 . The method of  claim 120 , wherein: 
 at the receiver's side, 
 the processing includes determining the indication of the recipient's e-mail address in the result of the result-incorporated e-mail message; and  
   comparing the determined indication with an indication of the recipient's e-mail address generated at the receiver's side and not based on the result-incorporated e-mail message.    
   
   
       127 . The method of  claim 126 , wherein: 
 determining the indication of the recipient's e-mail address in the result of the result-incorporated e-mail message includes determining the indication from a digest of data nominally including the recipient's e-mail address.    
   
   
       128 . The method of  claim 127 , wherein: 
 the indication of the recipient's e-mail address generated at the receiver's side is generated by combining the recipient's e-mail address with a salt.    
   
   
       129 . The method of  claim 128 , wherein: 
 the salt is determined at the receiver's side from the result-incorporated e-mail message.    
   
   
       130 . The method of  claim 129 , wherein: 
 the salt is determined at the receiver's side from the result-incorporated e-mail message.    
   
   
       131 . The method of  claim 130 , wherein: 
 determining the salt at the receiver's side from the result-incorporated e-mail message includes decrypting the result using a public key associated with a private key used by the service to encrypt the result.    
   
   
       132 . The method of  claim 94 , wherein: 
 the request for the information regarding the sender includes the result provided as part of the result-incorporated e-mail message.    
   
   
       133 . The method of  claim 132 , wherein: 
 at the service, providing the information regarding the sender includes providing the information regarding the sender only to a recipient of the result-incorporated e-mail message as verified from the result included in the request for information.    
   
   
       134 . The method of  claim 133 , further comprising: 
 verifying the recipient of the result-incorporated message by    processing an e-mail address provided in the request to generate a processed e-mail address;    processing the result to determine a processed portion of the result; and comparing the generated processed e-mail address to the determined processed portion of the result.    
   
   
       135 . The method of  claim 134 , wherein: 
 generating the processed e-mail address includes generating a digest of the e-mail address provided in the request combined with a salt provided in the request; and comparing the generated processed e-mail address to the processed portion of the result includes comparing the generated digest to a corresponding digest in the request.    
   
   
       136 . The method of  claim 94 , wherein: 
 the information regarding the sender includes information regarding how recipients of e-mail messages from that sender have interacted with the received e-mail messages.    
   
   
       137 . The method of  claim 136 , further comprising: 
 from the receiver's side, providing information to the service regarding the receiver's interaction with the received e-mail message.    
   
   
       138 . The method of  claim 137 , wherein: 
 the information provided to the service regarding the receiver's interaction with the received e-mail message includes an indication of e-mail messages blocked at the receiver's side.    
   
   
       139 . The method of  claim 137 , wherein: 
 the information provided to the service regarding the receiver's interaction with the received e-mail message includes an indication of click through with regard to the received e-mail message.    
   
   
       140 . The method of  claim 137 , further comprising: 
 at the service, 
 compiling the information regarding how recipients of e-mail messages from that sender have interacted with the received e-mail messages.  
   
   
   
       141 . The method of  claim 140 , wherein: 
 compiling the information regarding how recipients of e-mail messages from that sender have interacted with the received e-mail messages includes generating, from the information, a measure of quality associated with that sender.    
   
   
       142 . A device that provides an authority regulated e-Mail messaging application over a public network to a plurality of mailers and addressees, the device: transmitting at least one e-Mail message through at least one e-Mail account configured for a specific class of service; creating transaction records relevant to a specific class of service based upon details of completed transactions; obtaining electronic postmarks to authenticate transaction records; sending authenticated transaction records to the mailer; embedding a unique identifier of an electronic postmark in the e-Mail message, and sending to at least one addressee the e-Mail message incorporating the unique identifier, 
 wherein authenticated e-Mail messages and transaction records are created and protected from undetectable modification.    
   
   
       143 . The device of  claim 142 , wherein each party may later present authenticated transaction records to the system for validation, the validation comprising submitting the transaction record to a verifier and returning details of the verification to the presenting party.  
   
   
       144 . The device of  claim 142 , wherein the addressees' terminal e-Mail servers may selectively accept e-Mail messages subject to the presence of a unique identifier of an electronic postmark.  
   
   
       145 . The device of  claim 142 , wherein the e-Mail account is established for a mailer whose identity has been verified by one of an authority and an agent of the authority.  
   
   
       146 . The device of  claim 142 , wherein the unique identifier is the electronic postmark.  
   
   
       147 . The device of  claim 142 , wherein the unique identifier is a serial number for the corresponding electronic postmark.  
   
   
       148 . The device of  claim 142 , wherein the unique identifier is a graphical image in which the electronic postmark is embedded using stegonography.  
   
   
       149 . The device of  claim 142 , wherein the transaction record is a Certificate of Mailing providing proof that a message was submitted to an e-Mail server outside the control of the mailer.  
   
   
       150 . The device of  claim 142 , wherein the transaction record is a Certificate of Delivery providing proof that a message was delivered to an e-Mail system where the addressee is capable of receiving e-Mail.  
   
   
       151 . The device of  claim 142 , wherein the authenticated transaction record is embedded in the e-Mail message.  
   
   
       152 . The device of  claim 142 , wherein an authenticated transaction record is sent in conjunction with the corresponding e-Mail message to at least one addressee.  
   
   
       153 . The device of  claim 142 , wherein an e-Mail server electronically signs e-Mail messages using a Digital Certificate issued to the server as a digital identity.  
   
   
       154 . The device of  claim 142 , wherein the regulated e-Mail messaging application is invoked as a mail filter from an SMTP mail server.  
   
   
       155 . The device of  claim 142 , wherein the unique identifier of the electronic postmark is embedded in a plurality of e-Mail messages.  
   
   
       156 . The device of  claim 142 , wherein at least one e-Mail message containing the embedded unique identifier of the electronic postmark is sent to a plurality of addressees  
   
   
       157 . The device of  claim 142 , wherein the mailing is preceded by delivery to an e-Mail system of at least one waybill listing the authenticated messages to be delivered to addressees having addresses at the e-Mail system.  
   
   
       158 . A system that provides an authority regulated e-Mail messaging application over a public network to a plurality of mailers and addressees, the system: transmitting at least one e-Mail message through at least one e-Mail account configured for a specific class of service; creating transaction records relevant to the specific class of service based upon details of completed transactions; obtaining electronic postmarks to authenticate transaction records, sending authenticated transaction records to the mailer; embedding a unique identifier of an electronic postmark in the e-Mail message, and sending to at least one addressee the e-Mail message incorporating the unique identifier, wherein authenticated e-Mail messages and transaction records are created and protected from undetectable modification.  
   
   
       159 . The messaging system of  claim 158 , wherein each party may later present authenticated transaction records for validation, the validation comprising submitting the transaction record to a verifier and returning details of the verification to the presenting party.  
   
   
       160 . The messaging system of  claim 158 , wherein the addressees' terminal e-Mail servers may selectively accept e-Mail messages subject to the presence of a unique identifier of an electronic postmark.  
   
   
       161 . The messaging system of  claim 158 , wherein the e-Mail account is established for a mailer whose identity has been verified by one of an authority and an agent of the authority.  
   
   
       162 . The messaging system of  claim 158 , wherein the unique identifier is the electronic postmark.  
   
   
       163 . The messaging system of  claim 158 , wherein the unique identifier is a serial number for the corresponding electronic postmark.  
   
   
       164 . The messaging system of  claim 158 , wherein the unique identifier is a graphical image in which the electronic postmark is embedded using stegonography.  
   
   
       165 . The messaging system of  claim 158 , wherein the transaction record is a Certificate of Mailing providing proof that a message was submitted to an e-Mail server outside the control of the mailer.  
   
   
       166 . The messaging system of  claim 158 , wherein the transaction record is a Certificate of Delivery providing proof that a message was delivered to an e-Mail system where the addressee is capable of receiving e-Mail.  
   
   
       167 . The messaging system of  claim 158 , wherein the authenticated transaction record is embedded in the e-Mail message.  
   
   
       168 . The messaging system of  claim 158 , wherein an authenticated transaction record is sent in conjunction with the corresponding e-Mail message to at least one addressee.  
   
   
       169 . The messaging system of  claim 158 , wherein an e-Mail server electronically signs e-Mail messages using a Digital Certificate issued to the server as a digital identity.  
   
   
       170 . The messaging system of  claim 158 , wherein the regulated e-Mail messaging application is invoked as a mail filter from an SMTP mail server.  
   
   
       171 . The messaging system of  claim 158 , wherein the unique identifier of the electronic postmark is embedded in a plurality of e-Mail messages.  
   
   
       172 . The messaging system of  claim 171 , wherein at least one e-Mail message containing the embedded unique identifier of the electronic postmark is sent to a plurality of addressees  
   
   
       173 . The messaging system of  claim 158 , wherein the mailing is preceded by delivery to an e-Mail system of at least one waybill listing the authenticated messages to be delivered to addressees having addresses at the e-Mail system.  
   
   
       174 . A computer readable medium that stores an authority regulated e-Mail messaging application operated over a public network for a plurality of mailers and addressees, the medium comprising at least one source code segment that: 
 transmits at least one e-Mail message through at least one e-Mail account configured for a specific class of service;    creates transaction records relevant to the specific class of service based upon details of completed transactions;    obtains electronic postmarks to authenticate transaction records;    sends authenticated transaction records to the mailer;    embeds a unique identifier of an electronic postmark in the e-Mail message; and sends to at least one addressee the e-Mail message incorporating the unique identifier,    wherein authenticated e-Mail messages and transaction records are created and protected from undetectable modification.    
   
   
       175 . The medium of  claim 174 , wherein each party may later present authenticated transaction records to the application for validation, the validation comprising submitting the transaction record to a verifier and returning details of the verification to the presenting party.  
   
   
       176 . The medium of  claim 174 , wherein the addressees' terminal e-Mail servers may selectively accept e-Mail messages subject to the presence of a unique identifier of an electronic postmark.  
   
   
       177 . The medium of  claim 174 , wherein the e-Mail account is established for a mailer whose identity has been verified by one of an authority and an agent of the authority.  
   
   
       178 . The medium of  claim 174 , wherein the unique identifier is the electronic postmark.  
   
   
       179 . The medium of  claim 174 , wherein the unique identifier is a serial number for the corresponding electronic postmark.  
   
   
       180 . The medium of  claim 174 , wherein the unique identifier is a graphical image in which the electronic postmark is embedded using stegonography.  
   
   
       181 . The medium of  claim 174 , wherein the transaction record is a Certificate of Mailing providing proof that a message was submitted to an e-Mail server outside the control of the mailer.  
   
   
       182 . The medium of  claim 174 , wherein the transaction record is a Certificate of Delivery providing proof that a message was delivered to an e-Mail system where the addressee is capable of receiving e-Mail.  
   
   
       183 . The medium of  claim 174 , wherein the authenticated transaction record is embedded in the e-Mail message.  
   
   
       184 . The medium of  claim 174 , wherein an authenticated transaction record is sent in conjunction with the corresponding e-Mail message to at least one addressee.  
   
   
       185 . The medium of  claim 174 , wherein an e-Mail server electronically signs e-Mail messages using a Digital Certificate issued to the server as a digital identity.  
   
   
       186 . The medium of  claim 174 , wherein the regulated e-Mail messaging application is invoked as a mail filter from an SMTP mail server.  
   
   
       187 . The medium of  claim 174 , wherein the unique identifier of the electronic postmark is embedded in a plurality of e-Mail messages.  
   
   
       188 . The medium of  claim 187 , wherein at least one e-Mail message containing the embedded unique identifier of the electronic postmark is sent to a plurality of addressees.  
   
   
       189 . The medium of  claim 174 , wherein the mailing is preceded by delivery to an e-Mail system of at least one waybill listing the authenticated messages to be delivered to addressees having addresses at the e-Mail system.  
   
   
       190 . A method for providing an authority regulated e-Mail messaging application over a public network to a plurality of mailers and addressees, the method comprising: 
 transmitting at least one e-Mail message through at least one e-Mail account configured for a specific class of service;    creating transaction records relevant to the specific class of service based upon details of completed transactions;    obtaining electronic postmarks to authenticate transaction records; sending authenticated transaction records to the mailer;    embedding a unique identifier of an electronic postmark in the e-Mail message; and    sending to at least one addressee the e-Mail message incorporating the unique identifier,    wherein authenticated e-Mail messages are created and protected from undetectable modification.    
   
   
       191 . The method of  claim 190 , wherein each party may later present authenticated transaction records for validation, the validation comprising submitting the transaction record to a verifier and returning details of the verification to the presenting party.  
   
   
       192 . The method of  claim 190 , wherein the addressees' terminal e-Mail servers may selectively accept e-Mail messages subject to the presence of a unique identifier of an electronic postmark.  
   
   
       193 . The method of  claim 190 , wherein the e-Mail account is established for a mailer whose identity has been verified by one of an authority and an agent of the authority.  
   
   
       194 . The method of  claim 190 , wherein the unique identifier is the electronic postmark.  
   
   
       195 . The method of  claim 190 , wherein the unique identifier is a serial number for the corresponding electronic postmark.  
   
   
       196 . The method of  claim 190 , wherein the unique identifier is a graphical image in which the electronic postmark is embedded using stegonography.  
   
   
       197 . The method of  claim 190 , wherein the transaction record is a Certificate of Mailing providing proof that a message was submitted to an e-Mail server outside the control of the mailer.  
   
   
       198 . The method of  claim 190 , wherein the transaction record is a Certificate of Delivery providing proof that a message was delivered to an e-Mail system where the addressee is capable of receiving e-Mail.  
   
   
       199 . The method of  claim 190 , wherein the authenticated transaction record is embedded in the e-Mail message.  
   
   
       200 . The medium of  claim 190 , wherein an authenticated transaction record is sent in conjunction with the corresponding e-Mail message to at least one addressee.  
   
   
       201 . The medium of  claim 190 , wherein an e-Mail server electronically signs e-Mail messages using a Digital Certificate issued to the server as a digital identity.  
   
   
       202 . The medium of  claim 190 , wherein the regulated e-Mail messaging application is invoked as a mail filter from an SMTP mail server.  
   
   
       203 . The medium of  claim 190 , wherein the unique identifier of the electronic postmark is embedded in a plurality of e-Mail messages.  
   
   
       204 . The medium of  claim 203 , wherein at least one e-Mail message containing the embedded unique identifier of the electronic postmark is sent to a plurality of addressees.  
   
   
       205 . The method of  claim 190 , wherein the mailing is preceded by delivery to an e-Mail system of at least one waybill listing the authenticated messages to be delivered to addressees having addresses at the e-Mail system.  
   
   
       206 . A device that provides an authority regulated e-Mail messaging over a public network to a plurality of mailers and addressees, the device: transmitting at least one e-Mail message through at least one e-Mail account established for a mailer whose identity has been verified by one of an authority and an agent of the authority; obtaining electronic postmarks to authenticate transaction records; sending to the mailer a Certificate of Mailing providing proof that a message was submitted to an e-Mail server outside the control of the mailer; sending to the mailer a Certificate of Delivery providing proof that a message was delivered to an e-Mail system where the addressee is capable of receiving e-Mail; embedding a unique identifier of an electronic postmark in the e-Mail message as a graphical image in which the electronic postmark is embedded using stegonography, and sending to at least one addressee the e-Mail message incorporating the unique identifier, 
 wherein authenticated e-Mail messages and corresponding transaction records are created and protected from undetectable modification; and    wherein each party may later present authenticated e-Mail messages and transaction records for validation, the validation comprising submitting at least one of the message and the transaction record to a verifier and returning details of the verification to the presenting party.    
   
   
       207 . The messaging system of  claim 206 , wherein the addressees' terminal e-Mail servers may selectively accept e-Mail messages subject to the presence of a unique identifier of an electronic postmark.  
   
   
       208 . The messaging system of  claim 206 , wherein the authenticated transaction record is embedded in the e-Mail message.  
   
   
       209 . The messaging system of  claim 206 , wherein the e-Mail servers electronically sign e-Mail messages using a Digital Certificate issued to the server as a digital identity.  
   
   
       210 . The messaging system of  claim 206 , wherein the regulated e-Mail messaging application is invoked as a mail filter from an SMTP mail server.  
   
   
       211 . The messaging system of  claim 206 , wherein the mailing is preceded by delivery to an e-Mail system of at least one waybill listing the authenticated messages to be delivered to addressees having addresses at the e-Mail system.