Storing anti-spam black lists

Abstract

A method and apparatus for blocking unwanted messages (spam) in a telecommunications network. A location server of the network stores black lists of message sources which are known or believed to be generators of spam messages, or sources from which a particular destination does not wish to receive messages. When a location inquiry is made to a location server, such as a home location register (HLR) of a mobile network or a home subscriber server (HSS) of an Internet Protocol network, wherein is stored a table of sources which have been black listed because they are believed to be sources of spam messages. Advantageously, this arrangement avoids use of network resources to make extensive checks to identify spam messages.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.