Safe unsubscribe

1. A computer-implemented method of unsubscribing a recipient of a received unwanted electronic message, comprising:

in the computing device, receiving a single unsubscribe click by the recipient;

extracting, by a computing device, an unsubscribe Universal Resource Indicator (URI) from the received unwanted electronic message;

determining, by the computing device, whether the extracted unsubscribe URI matches one of a plurality of known unsubscribe URIs patterns and, without further involvement of the recipient:

when the extracted unsubscribe URI matches one of the known unsubscribe URIs patterns, executing a selected one of a plurality of static unsubscribe scenarios, each corresponding to a respective one of the known unsubscribe URIs patterns and each comprising a predetermined set of instructions configured to unsubscribe the recipient from further unwanted electronic messages associated with a respective one of the known unsubscribe URIs patterns;

when the extracted unsubscribe URI fails to match one of the known unsubscribe URIs patterns, executing a dynamic unsubscribe scenario configured to selectively execute instructions depending on contents of a single unsubscribe form in a webpage pointed to by the extracted unsubscribe URI, the instructions comprising:

determining whether a single input field that is relevant to unsubscribing is present in the single unsubscribe form, and

when the single input field is determined to be present in the single unsubscribe form, filling in the single input field with an electronic address of the recipient; and

when the single input field is determined not to be present in the single unsubscribe form, finding a user interface element therein that is relevant to unsubscribing and updating the user interface element by applying a selected unsubscribe relevance rule thereto; and

submitting the single unsubscribe form with the filled-in single input field or updated user interface element to the webpage.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising determining whether the single input field or the found user interface element is relevant to unsubscribing by determining whether the single input field or the found user interface element is linked to a text node that is indicative of unsubscribing.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving an electronic message and reporting successfully unsubscribing after the electronic message is determined to be an unsubscribe confirmation message.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , further comprising determining whether the received electronic message is an unsubscribe confirmation message by at least one of:

matching the received electronic message against known stored unsubscribe confirmation messages; and

applying natural language processing techniques to the received electronic message.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising finding and clicking a single unsubscribe link when the single unsubscribe form is not found in the webpage pointed to by the extracted unsubscribe URI.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, over the computer network, a plurality of requests, from a corresponding plurality of recipients of unwanted electronic messages, to unsubscribe from receiving further unwanted electronic messages from identified unwanted electronic message senders and, for each of the received plurality of requests, selectively executing out the dynamic unsubscribe scenario or a selected one of the plurality of static unsubscribe scenarios.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the found single input field comprises a single empty email field and wherein the computer-implemented method further comprises filling in the single empty email field.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the found one of the plurality of relevant user interface elements comprises a single checkbox that is relevant to unsubscribing.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the found one of the plurality of user interface elements comprises a single radio button that is relevant to unsubscribing.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising reporting failure to unsubscribe upon determining that the unsubscribe confirmation message has not been received.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising extracting a plurality of unsubscribe URIs from the unwanted electronic message and, for each extracted unsubscribe URI, selectively carrying out the dynamic unsubscribe scenario or one of the plurality of static unsubscribe scenarios.

12. A computing device coupled to a computer network, and configured to unsubscribe recipients from receiving further unwanted electronic messages, the computing device comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one data storage device coupled to the at least one processor;

a plurality of processes spawned by said at least one processor, the processes including processing logic for, responsive to receiving, over the computer network, an indication of a single click from a recipient of an unwanted electronic message:

extracting an unsubscribe Universal Resource Indicator (URI) from the received unwanted electronic message;

determining whether the extracted unsubscribe URI matches one of a plurality of known unsubscribe URIs patterns and, without further involvement of the recipient:

when the extracted unsubscribe URI matches one of the known unsubscribe URIs patterns, executing a selected one of a plurality of static unsubscribe scenarios, each corresponding to a respective one of the known unsubscribe URIs patterns and each comprising a predetermined set of instructions configured to unsubscribe the recipient from further unwanted electronic messages associated with a respective one of the known unsubscribe URIs patterns;

when the extracted unsubscribe URI fails to match one of the known unsubscribe URIs patterns, executing a dynamic unsubscribe scenario configured to selectively execute instructions depending on contents of a single unsubscribe form in a webpage pointed to by the extracted unsubscribe URI, the instructions comprising:

determining whether a single input field that is relevant to unsubscribing is present in the single unsubscribe form, and

when the single input field is determined to be present in the single unsubscribe form, filling in the single input field with an electronic address of the recipient; and

when the single input field is determined not to be present in the single unsubscribe form, finding a user interface element therein that is relevant to unsubscribing and updating the user interface element by applying a selected unsubscribe relevance rule thereto; and

submitting the single unsubscribe form with the filled-in single input field or updated user interface element to the webpage.

13. The computing device of claim 12 , further comprising processing logic for determining whether the single input field or the found user interface element is relevant to unsubscribing by determining whether the single input field or the found user interface element is linked to a text node that is indicative of unsubscribing.

14. The computing device of claim 12 , further comprising processing logic for receiving an electronic message and reporting successfully unsubscribing after the electronic message is determined to be an unsubscribe confirmation message.

15. The computing device of claim 14 , further comprising processing logic for determining whether the received electronic message is an unsubscribe confirmation message by at least one of:

matching the received electronic message against known stored unsubscribe confirmation messages; and

applying natural language processing techniques to the received electronic message.

16. The computing device of claim 12 , further comprising processing logic for finding and clicking a single unsubscribe link when the single unsubscribe form is not found in the webpage pointed to by the extracted unsubscribe URI.

17. The computing device of claim 12 , further comprising processing logic for receiving, over the computer network, a plurality of requests, from a corresponding plurality of recipients of unwanted electronic messages, to unsubscribe from receiving further unwanted electronic messages from identified unwanted electronic message senders and, for each of the received plurality of requests, selectively executing out the dynamic unsubscribe scenario or a selected one of the plurality of static unsubscribe scenarios.

18. The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the found single input field comprises a single empty email field and wherein the computing device further comprises processing logic for filling in the single empty email field.

19. The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the found one of the plurality of relevant user interface elements comprises a single checkbox that is relevant to unsubscribing.

20. The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the found one of the plurality of user interface elements comprises a single radio button that is relevant to unsubscribing.

21. The computing device of claim 12 , further comprising reporting failure to unsubscribe upon determining that the unsubscribe confirmation message has not been received.

22. The computing device of claim 12 , further comprising processing logic for extracting a plurality of unsubscribe URIs from the unwanted electronic message and, for each extracted unsubscribe URI, selectively carrying out the dynamic unsubscribe scenario or one of the plurality of static unsubscribe scenarios.

23. A machine-readable non-transitory medium having data stored thereon representing sequences of instructions which, when executed by a computing device coupled to a computer network, causes the computing device to unsubscribe from an unwanted electronic message, the sequences of instructions being configured to cause the computing device to:

receive a single unsubscribe click by the recipient;

extract an unsubscribe Universal Resource Indicator (URI) from the received unwanted electronic message;

determining whether the extracted unsubscribe URI matches one of a plurality of known unsubscribe URIs patterns and, without further involvement of the recipient:

when the extracted unsubscribe URI matches one of the known unsubscribe URIs patterns, execute a selected one of a plurality of static unsubscribe scenarios, each corresponding to a respective one of the known unsubscribe URIs patterns and each comprising a predetermined set of instructions configured to unsubscribe the recipient from further unwanted electronic messages associated with a respective one of the known unsubscribe URIs patterns;

when the extracted unsubscribe URI fails to match one of the known unsubscribe URIs patterns, execute a dynamic unsubscribe scenario configured to selectively execute instructions depending on contents of a single unsubscribe form in a webpage pointed to by the extracted unsubscribe URI, the dynamic scenario being configured to:

determine whether a single input field that is relevant to unsubscribing is present in the single unsubscribe form, and

when the single input field is determined to be present in the single unsubscribe form, fill in the single input field with an electronic address of the recipient; and

when the single input field is determined not to be present in the single unsubscribe form, find a user interface element therein that is relevant to unsubscribing and updating the user interface element by applying a selected unsubscribe relevance rule thereto; and

submit the single unsubscribe form with the filled-in single input field or updated user interface element to the webpage.