Method And System For Removing A Person From An E-Mail Thread

Abstract

A method for automatically removing a user from an e-mail thread is provided. An e-mail client receives a reply e-mail message. Responsive to a determination that the reply e-mail message is a message to opt-out of an e-mail thread, the e-mail address of a sender of the reply e-mail message is associated with the e-mail thread to form a listed e-mail address. The listed e-mail address is stored. When a new e-mail message is generated that is part of the e-mail thread, the listed e-mail address is automatically excluded from a list of recipients of the new e-mail.

1 . A method for automatically removing a user from an e-mail thread, the method comprising steps performed by a computer of:
 receiving a reply e-mail message at an e-mail client running on the computer;   responsive to a determination by the e-mail client that the reply e-mail message is a message to opt-out of an e-mail thread, associating an e-mail address of a sender of the reply e-mail message to the e-mail thread to form a listed e-mail address;   storing the listed e-mail address;   generating a new e-mail message at the e-mail client, wherein the new e-mail message is part of the e-mail thread; and   excluding, automatically by the e-mail client, the listed e-mail address from a list of recipients of the new e-mail message.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a first e-mail message at another e-mail client;   responsive to selecting an opt-out option, generating by the another e-mail client, automatically, the reply e-mail message to the first e-mail message, wherein the reply e-mail message comprises an indication to opt-out of the e-mail thread; and   sending the reply e-mail message to recipients of the first e-mail message.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the indication to opt-out of the e-mail thread is in a header field of the reply e-mail message. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the receiving, associating, and storing steps are performed by the e-mail client without a recipient of the reply e-mail message being aware of the reply e-mail message. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein excluding, automatically by the e-mail client, the listed e-mail address from the list of recipients of the new e-mail message comprises:
 comparing a list of e-mail addresses of intended recipients of the new e-mail message for the e-mail thread with a list of e-mail addresses of users that have opted out of the email thread; and   deleting e-mail addresses from a list of intended recipients of the new e-mail message that match an email address in the list of e-mail addresses of users that have opted out of the email thread.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the steps of comparing and deleting are performed responsive to receiving a command to send the new e-mail message. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the listed e-mail address is stored locally at the computer, and further comprising steps of:
 maintaining a first table that relates a unique e-mail thread identifier to a set of message identifiers that make up the e-mail thread; and   maintaining a second table that relates the unique e-mail thread identifier to a set of e-mail addresses associated with people who have chosen to opt-out of the e-mail thread.   
     
     
         8 . A computer program product comprising:
 a computer recordable medium having computer usable program code for automatically removing a user from an e-mail thread, the computer program product comprising:   computer usable program code for receiving a reply e-mail message at an e-mail client;   computer usable program code, responsive to a determination by the e-mail client that the reply e-mail message is a message to opt-out of an e-mail thread, for associating an e-mail address of a sender of the reply e-mail message to the e-mail thread to form a listed e-mail address;   computer usable program code for storing the listed e-mail address;   computer usable program code for generating a new e-mail message at the e-mail client, wherein the new e-mail message is part of the e-mail thread; and   computer usable program code for excluding, automatically by the e-mail client, the listed e-mail address from a list of recipients of the new e-mail message.   
     
     
         9 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 computer usable program code for receiving a first e-mail message at another e-mail client;   computer usable program code, responsive to selecting an opt-out option, for generating, automatically by the another e-mail client, the reply e-mail message to the first e-mail message, wherein the reply e-mail message comprises an indication to opt-out of the e-mail thread; and   computer usable program code for sending the reply e-mail message to recipients of the first e-mail message.   
     
     
         10 . The computer program product of  claim 9 , wherein the indication to opt-out of the e-mail thread is in a header field of the reply e-mail message. 
     
     
         11 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the computer usable program code for receiving, associating, and storing is executed without a recipient of the reply e-mail message being aware of the reply e-mail message. 
     
     
         12 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the computer usable program code for excluding, automatically by the e-mail client, the listed e-mail address from the list of recipients of the new e-mail message comprises:
 computer usable program code for comparing a list of e-mail addresses of intended recipients of the new e-mail message for the e-mail thread with a list of e-mail addresses of users that have opted out of the email thread; and   computer usable program code for deleting e-mail addresses from a list of intended recipients of the new e-mail message that match an email address in the list of e-mail addresses of users that have opted out of the email thread.   
     
     
         13 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , wherein the computer usable program code for comparing and deleting is executed in response to receiving a command to send the new e-mail message. 
     
     
         14 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein the listed e-mail address is stored locally, and wherein the computer usable program code further comprises:
 computer usable program code for maintaining a first table that relates a unique e-mail thread identifier to a set of message identifiers that make up the e-mail thread; and   computer usable program code for maintaining a second table that relates the unique e-mail thread identifier to a set of e-mail addresses associated with people who have chosen to opt-out of the e-mail thread.   
     
     
         15 . A data processing system for automatically removing a user from an e-mail thread, the data processing system comprising:
 a bus;   a communications unit connected to the bus;   a storage device connected to the bus, wherein the storage device includes computer usable program code; and   a processor unit connected to the bus, wherein the processor unit executes the computer usable program code to receive a reply e-mail message at an e-mail client; responsive to a determination by the e-mail client that the reply e-mail message is a message to opt-out of an e-mail thread, associate an e-mail address of a sender of the reply e-mail message to the e-mail thread to form a listed e-mail address; store the listed e-mail address; generate a new e-mail message at the e-mail client, wherein the new e-mail message is part of the e-mail thread; and exclude, automatically by the e-mail client, the listed e-mail address from a list of recipients of the new e-mail message.   
     
     
         16 . The data processing system of  claim 15 , in combination with another data processing system comprising another processor, wherein the another processor executes another computer program code to receive a first e-mail message at another e-mail client at the another data processing system; responsive to selecting an opt-out option, generate, automatically by the another e-mail client, the reply e-mail message to the first e-mail message, wherein the reply e-mail message comprises an indication to opt-out of the e-mail thread; and send the reply e-mail message to recipients of the first e-mail message. 
     
     
         17 . The data processing system of  claim 16 , wherein the indication to opt-out of the e-mail thread is in a header field of the reply e-mail message. 
     
     
         18 . The data processing system of  claim 15 , wherein the computer useable program code to receive, associate, and store is executed without a recipient of the reply e-mail message being aware of the reply e-mail message. 
     
     
         19 . The data processing system of  claim 15 , wherein the computer useable program code to exclude, automatically by the e-mail client, the listed e-mail address from the list of recipients of the new e-mail message comprises:
 computer useable program code to compare a list of e-mail addresses of intended recipients of the new e-mail message for the e-mail thread with a list of e-mail addresses of users that have opted out of the email thread; and   computer useable program code to delete e-mail addresses from a list of intended recipients of the new e-mail message that match an email address in the list of e-mail addresses of users that have opted out of the email thread.   
     
     
         20 . The data processing system of  claim 19 , wherein the computer useable program code to compare and delete are executed responsive to receiving a command to send the new e-mail message.