Method and apparatus for utilizing portable e-mail addresses

1. A computer readable memory medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus to cause the digital processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

performing the following on a client platform:

receiving, from an email client executing on the client platform, an original email message to be transmitted from the client platform, the original email message having an original header comprising a “from” header field and a “to” header field, the “to” header field having a virtual receiving email address, the “from” header field having a virtual sending email address;

resolving said virtual receiving email address to an actual receiving email address and said virtual sending email address to an actual sending email address;

creating a revised email message from the original email message by:

replacing the virtual receiving email address in the “to” header field of the original email message with the actual receiving email address;

replacing the virtual sending email address in the “from” header field of the original email message with the actual sending email address;

inserting a “virtual from” header field and a “virtual to” header field into the original header of the email message to create a revised header for the revised email message;

inserting a tuple comprising the virtual sending email address and the actual sending email address into the “virtual from” header field; and

inserting a tuple comprising the virtual receiving email address and the actual receiving email address into the “virtual to” header field; and

transmitting said revised email message, including said revised header having the “to”, “from”, “virtual from”, and “virtual to” header fields, to an email server external to the client platform.

2. The computer readable memory medium of claim 1 wherein at least one of said virtual receiving email address or said virtual sending email address comprises a reserved top-level domain name.

3. The computer readable memory medium of claim 1 wherein said virtual receiving email address comprises a punctuation character adjacent to an AT (@) sign.

4. The computer readable memory medium of claim 1 wherein resolving comprises:

sending a request to resolve said virtual receiving email address and said virtual sending email address to a resolution server; and

receiving from said resolution server the actual receiving email address corresponding to said virtual receiving email address and the actual sending email address corresponding to said virtual sending email address.

5. The computer readable memory medium of claim 1 wherein resolving comprises mapping the virtual receiving email address to the actual receiving email address and mapping the virtual sending email address to the actual sending email address using a translation method retrieved from a memory.

6. The computer readable memory medium of claim 1 wherein resolving comprises utilizing an address lookup table.

7. A computer readable memory medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus to cause the digital processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

performing the following on a client platform:

receiving an original email message from an email server external to the client platform, the original email message comprising an original header comprising a “to” header field, a “from” header field, a “virtual from” header field, and a “virtual to” header field, the “to” header field having an actual receiving email address, the “from” header field having an actual sending address, the “virtual from” header field, comprising a tuple comprising a virtual sending email address and the actual sending email address and the “virtual to” header field comprising a tuple comprising a virtual receiving email address and the actual receiving email address;

using the “virtual from” header field, resolving said actual receiving email address to the virtual receiving email address;

using the “virtual to” header field, resolving said actual sending email address to the virtual sending email address;

creating a revised email message by:

replacing the actual receiving email address in the “to” header field of the original email message with the virtual receiving email address;

replacing the actual sending email address in the “from” header field of the original email message with the virtual sending email address;

removing the “virtual from” header field and the “virtual to” header field from the original header of the email message to create a revised header for the revised email message; and

communicating said revised email message, including the revised header, to an email client executing on the client platform.

8. The computer readable memory medium of claim 7 wherein at least one of said virtual receiving email address or said virtual sending email address comprises a reserved top-level domain name.

9. The computer readable memory medium of claim 7 wherein at least one of said virtual receiving email address comprises a punctuation character adjacent to an AT (@) sign.

10. A method comprising:

performing the following on a client platform:

receiving, from an email client executing on the client platform, an original email message to be transmitted from the client platform, the original email message having an original header comprising a “from” header field and a “to” header field, the “to” header field having a virtual receiving email address, the “from” header field having a virtual sending email address;

resolving said virtual receiving email address to an actual receiving email address and said virtual sending email address to an actual sending email address;

creating a revised email message from the original email message by:

replacing the virtual receiving email address in the “to” header field of the original email message with the actual receiving email address;

replacing the virtual sending email address in the “from” header field of the original email message with the actual sending email address;

inserting a “virtual from” header field and a “virtual to” header field into the original header of the email message to create a revised header for the revised email message;

inserting a tuple comprising the virtual sending email address and the actual sending email address into the “virtual from” header field; and

inserting a tuple comprising the virtual receiving email address and the actual receiving email address into the “virtual to” header field; and

transmitting said revised email message, including said revised header having the “to”, “from”, “virtual from”, and “virtual to” header fields, to an email server external to the client platform.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein resolving comprises:

sending a request to resolve said virtual receiving email address and said virtual sending email address to a resolution server; and

receiving from said resolution server the actual receiving email address corresponding to said virtual receiving email address and the actual sending email address corresponding to said virtual sending email address.

12. A method comprising:

performing the following on a client platform:

receiving an original email message from an email server external to the client platform, the original email message comprising an original header comprising a “to” header field, a “from” header field, a “virtual from” header field, and a “virtual to” header field, the “to” header field having an actual receiving email address, the “from” header field having an actual sending address, the “virtual from” header field, comprising a tuple comprising a virtual sending email address and the actual sending email address and the “virtual to” header field comprising a tuple comprising a virtual receiving email address and the actual receiving email address;

using the “virtual from” header field, resolving said actual receiving mail address to the virtual receiving email address;

using the “virtual to” header field, resolving said actual sending email address to the virtual sending email address;

creating a revised email message by:

replacing the actual receiving email address in the “to” header field of the original email message with the virtual receiving email address;

replacing the actual sending email address in the “from” header field of the original email message with the virtual sending email address;

removing the “virtual from” header field and the “virtual to” header field from the original header of the email message to create a revised header for the revised email message; and

communicating said revised email message, including the revised header, to an email client executing on the client platform.