METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ADAPTIVE DELIVERY OF DIGITAL MESSAGES

1 . A method for controlling delivery of digital messages such as E-mails transmitted via networks of computer systems, comprising the method steps of:

(a) submitting a first message for transmission to at least one identified recipient;

(b) queue-ing the first message with a selected immediate attempt time by storing said first message in a selected message queue;

(c) examining said a selected message queue and determining whether said identified recipient has a blackhole in effect, and, if so,

(d) failing all messages queued for the identified recipient, and

(e) waiting for a response pending an externally or internally triggered action.

2 . The method for controlling delivery of digital messages such as E-mails transmitted via networks of computer systems of claim 1 , further comprising the method steps of:

(f) submitting a second message for transmission to a second identified recipient;

(g) queue-ing the second message by storing said second message in said selected message queue with a selected immediate attempt time;

(h) examining said queue and determining whether the identified second recipient has a blackhole in effect, and, if not,

(i) determining whether the identified recipient has a suspension in effect, and, if so,

(j) waiting for a response pending an externally or internally triggered action.

3 . A method for controlling delivery of digital messages such as E-mails transmitted via networks of computer systems, comprising the method steps of:

(a) providing a message disposition rule set for use when evaluating message transmission to at least one identified recipient;

(b) attempting transmission of a subject message to at least one identified recipient and

(c) receiving or logging message disposition information generated in response to the subject message's attempted transmission;

(c) evaluating the message disposition rule set for the identified recipient against the message disposition information for previously attempted transmissions to the identified recipient;

(d) determining whether a rule from said message disposition rule set matches or is triggered by the message disposition information, and

(e) applying selected adaptive actions specified by the matching rule; wherein said adaptive actions may include setting a blackhole status, setting a suspension status, adjusting shaping parameters, throttling down sending rate to a selected limit, reclassifying disposition from permanent to transient or reclassifying disposition from transient to permanent.

4 . A digital message system programmed and configured to execute a method for processing a plurality of digital messages that are being sent to recipients at a plurality of destination domains, the method comprising:

(a) establishing a plurality of message disposition Rulesets in the system, wherein each Ruleset in the plurality of Rulesets is for handling digital messages to a specific domain or set of domains in the plurality of destination domains;

(b) receiving at the system a request to process for transfer a plurality of outbound digital messages, each digital message specifying delivery to at least one recipient at a particular domain or set of domains;

(c) for each given digital message, processing the given digital message by: determining a destination domain for the given digital message; reading a Ruleset, in the plurality of Rulesets, for the determined destination domain of the given digital message or for a set of destination domains that includes the determined destination domain of the given digital message; and, based on at least one Rule in the Ruleset, either:

(i) sending the given digital message to the determined destination domain in accordance with the Ruleset when permitted by the at least one Rule in the Ruleset or

(ii) holding the given digital message without sending the digital message to the determined destination domain when required by the at least one Rule in the Ruleset; and

(d) for the given digital message, once sent, determining the message disposition;

(e) evaluating the Ruleset and the message disposition;

(f) determining whether a Rule from the Ruleset matches the disposition, and, if so,

(g) applying actions specified by the matching rule to revise and adapt the Ruleset in response to said message disposition, and generating a newly adapted Ruleset.

5 . The digital message system of claim 4 , wherein the revision in method step (g) alters one or more Rules in at least one of the Rulesets thereby affecting how the digital message system sends e-mail to the domain or the set of domains associated with each of the one or more Rulesets.

6 . The digital message system of claim 4 , wherein the system is programmed and configured to modify the Ruleset to execute a method for processing a plurality of digital messages that are being sent to recipients at a plurality of destination domains, the modification method comprising:

(a) submitting a first message from a first user for transmission to at least one identified first recipient;

(b) Enqueuing said first message by storing said message in a selected message queue with an immediate attempt time in a first queue;

(c) examining said first queue and determining whether said first message has the status of a Blackhole, and, if not,

(d) determining whether said first message has the status of a suspension in effect, and if not,

(e) determining if said first message is due for delivery now, and, if so,

(f) removing said first message from said first queue and attempt delivery,

(g) determining if delivery of said first message was successful, and if not,

(h) determining whether delivery of said first message is a permanent failure, and if so,

(i) processing failed delivery of said first message.

7 . The digital message system of claim 6 , wherein the system is programmed and configured to modify the Ruleset to execute a method for processing a plurality of digital messages that are being sent to recipients at a plurality of destination domains, the modification method examining step (c) further comprises:

(i) failing all messages queued for said first recipient; and

(ii) waiting for a response pending an externally or internally triggered action.

8 . The digital message system of claim 4 , further comprising:

(a) a sender/user terminal;

(b) a sender mail user agent or message injector;

(c) a queue of mail to be sent;

(d) a programmable adaptive module;

(e) a client message transfer agent;

(f) a server message transfer agent;

(g) a receiver mail user agent;

(h) a receiver terminal;

9 . The digital message system of claim 4 , further comprising:

(a) a queue of mail to be sent;

(b) a local mail transfer agent with an adaptive module;

(c) at least one relay message transfer agent;

(d) a mailbox server;

(e) a receiving mail user agent;

(f) a receiving user at a terminal;