Method, article of manufacture and apparatus for restricting the receipt of delegate reply messages

An apparatus for restricting the receipt of delegate reply messages comprising:

• a memory for storing an electronic mail message and a delegate reply restriction routine;
• and
• a processing unit, coupled to the memory, for executing the delegate reply restriction routine retrieved from the memory, configuring a control message for an electronic mail message upon command from an input device, and sending the electronic mail and control messages to at least one recipient terminal, where the at least one recipient terminal processes the received control message for determining whether to reply to the received electronic mail message with a delegate reply message.

A computer readable medium storing a software program that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform a method comprising:

• configuring a control message for an electronic mail message addressed to at least one recipient terminal;
• and
• sending the electronic mail and control messages to the at least one recipient terminal, where the at least one recipient terminal processes the received control message for determining whether to reply to the received electronic mail message with a delegate reply message.