Alternate E-mail delivery

1. A method for transmitting an electronic mail (e-mail) message from a sender having a non-ASCII username to a recipient, the method comprising the steps of:

determining whether or not the recipient is configured to receive the e-mail message having the non-ASCII username;

if the recipient is configured to receive the e-mail message, transmitting the message to the recipient;

if the recipient is not configured to receive the e-mail message having the non-ASCII username:

submitting the e-mail message for storage in a data store associated with a proxy e-mail server configured for processing the non-ASCII username;

obtaining a uniform resource locator (URL) to identify a location of the stored e-mail message; and

transmitting a notification message to the recipient, the notification message including the URL, for subsequent use by the recipient for accessing the e-mail message upon receipt of the notification message.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the recipient uses the URL to

access the e-mail message on the data store associate with the proxy e-mail server via a web

browser.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user can perform mail

operations on the e-mail message.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the mail operation is a request to send the e-mail message to the recipient, comprising the further steps removing the non-ASCII username and transmitting the message to the recipient.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the non-ASCII username is replaced with a generic ASCII username or an ASCII username defined by the sender.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the URL is randomly generated.

7. The method of claim 1 , comprising the further step of

encrypting

communication when the recipient uses the URL to access the e-mail message.

8. The method of claim 1 comprising the further steps of

obtaining a

password associated with the URL; and transmitting the password to the recipient; wherein

the password is used to validate the recipient when the recipient uses the URL to access the email

message.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the password is sent in a password notification message, which is distinct from the notification message.

10. The method of claim 1 comprising the further steps of

requiring the

recipient to establish an account when the recipient uses the URL to access the e-mail

message; wherein further e-mail messages to the recipient are associated with the account.

11. A proxy e-mail server configured to display an e-mail message

from a sender having a non-ASCII username to a recipient that cannot receive e-mail

messages from senders non-ASCII usernames, the proxy e-mail server comprising:

a data store configured to store the e-mail message from a transmission e-mail server;

a web server capable of processing non-ASCII usernames, the web server configured

to:

generate a URL to identify a location of the e-mail message;

transmit the URL to the recipient; and

display the e-mail message to the recipient when the recipient accesses the

URL; and

if the recipient is not configured to receive the e-mail message having the non-ASCII

username:

submitting the e-mail message for storage in a data store associated with a proxy e-mail server configured for processing the non-ASCII username;

obtaining a uniform resource locator (URL) to identify a location of the stored e-mail message; and

transmitting a notification message to the recipient, the notification message including the URL, for subsequent use by the recipient for accessing the e-mail message upon receipt of the notification message.

12. The proxy e-mail server of claim 11 , wherein the web server transmits the URL to the recipient either by transmitting the URL to the transmission e-mail server, which transmits the URL in a notification message to a reception e-mail server; or by transmitting the URL in a notification message directly to the reception e-mail server.

13. The proxy e-mail server of claim 11 , wherein proxy e-mail server is associated with a corresponding transmission e-mail server.

14. The proxy e-mail server of claim 11 , wherein proxy e-mail server is associated with a corresponding reception e-mail server.

15. The proxy e-mail server of claim 11 , wherein the web server is further configured to generate a password associated with the URL; and transmitting the password to the recipient; wherein the password is used to validate the recipient when the recipient uses the URL to access the e-mail message.

16. The proxy e-mail server of claim 15 , wherein the password is sent separately from the notification message.

17. The proxy e-mail server of claim 11 wherein the web server is further configured to establish an account when the recipient uses the URL to access the e-mail message; wherein further e-mail messages to the recipient are associated with the account.

18. An e-mail server configured to transmit an e-mail message from a sender having a non-ASCII username to a recipient, the e-mail server comprising:

memory for storing instructions; and

a processor, configured to execute the instructions to implement the steps of:

determining whether or not the recipient is configured to receive the e-mail message having the non-ASCII username;

if the recipient is configured to receive the e-mail message, transmitting the message to the recipient;

if the recipient is not configured to receive the e-mail message having the non-ASCII username:

submitting the e-mail message for storage in a data store associated with a proxy e-mail server configured for processing the non-ASCII username;

obtaining a uniform resource locator (URL) to identify a location of the stored e-mail message; and

transmitting a notification message to the recipient, the message notification including the URL, for subsequent use by the recipient to access the e-mail message upon receipt of the notification message.

19. The e-mail server of claim 18 , wherein the e-mail server is a transmission e-mail server or a reception e-mail server.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions for transmitting an electronic mail (e-mail) message from a sender having a non-ASCII username to a recipient, the instructions when executed by a processor cause the processor to implement the steps of:

determining whether or not the recipient is configured to receive the e-mail message having the non-ASCII username;

if the recipient is configured to receive the e-mail message, transmitting the message to the recipient;

if the recipient is not configured to receive the e-mail message having the non-ASCII username:

submitting the e-mail message for storage in a data store associated with a proxy e-mail server configured for processing the non-ASCII username;

obtaining a uniform resource locator (URL) to identify a location of the stored e-mail message; and

transmitting a notification message to the recipient, the notification message including the URL, for subsequent use in accessing the e-mail message.