Using conditional statements in electronic messages to prevent overuse of resources or time when delivering the electronic message

A computer program product for use in a computer network that includes a computing system capable of originating an electronic message and dispatching the electronic message along a routing path towards a destination computing system, the routing path including one or more intermediary message processing computing systems, the computer program product for implementing a method for allowing the originating computing system or any of the one or more message processing intermediary computing systems to limit an amount of resources used to delivery the electronic message, the computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable media having stored thereon the following:

• computer-executable instructions for causing an electronic message that is destined for the destination computing system to be accessed;
• computer-executable instructions for including information in the electronic message that designates one or more constraints related to resources or time used to deliver the electronic message to the destination computing system, wherein if a subsequent message processing computing system in the routing path detects that the constraints have been exceeded, then the subsequent message processing computing system does not deliver the electronic message to the destination computing system;
• and
• computer-executable instructions for causing the electronic message to be sent to the next message processing computing system in the routing path.

In a computer network that includes a computing system capable of originating an electronic message and dispatching the electronic message along a routing path towards a destination computing system, the routing path including one or more intermediary message processing computing systems, a method for any of the one or more message processing intermediary computing systems to limit an amount of resources used to delivery the electronic message, the method comprising the following:

• an act of receiving an electronic message destined for the destination computing system;
• an act of reading information in the electronic message that designates one or more constraints related to resources or time used to deliver the electronic message to the destination computing system;
• an act of determining whether at least one of the one of more constraints have been exceeded;
• and
• an act of ceasing any delivery of the electronic message to the destination computing system if it has been determined that at least one of the one or more constraints have been exceeded.

A computer program product for use in a computer network that includes a computing system capable of originating an electronic message and dispatching the electronic message along a routing path towards a destination computing system, the routing path including one or more intermediary message processing computing systems, the computer program product for implementing a method for any of the one or more message processing intermediary computing systems to limit an amount of resources used to delivery the electronic message, the computer program product comprising one or more computer-readable medium having thereon the following:

• computer-executable instructions for detecting receipt of an electronic message destined for the destination computing system;
• computer-executable instructions for reading information in the electronic message that designates one or more constraints related to resources or time used to deliver the electronic message to the destination computing system;
• computer-executable instructions for determining whether at least one of the one of more constraints have been exceeded;
• and
• computer-executable instructions for causing any delivery of the electronic message to the destination computing system to be ceased if it has been determined that at least one of the one or more constraints have been exceeded.

One or more computer-readable media having thereon a data structure representing an electronic message, the data structure comprising the following:

• a header field;
• and
• a body field, wherein the header field further has therein the following:
• a constraint field that designates at least one constraint that must be met in order for delivery of the electronic message to continue.