Method and apparatus for certifying mass emailings

A method comprising:

• a computer system receiving a request from a mass mailer to perform a certified mass mailing, wherein the request includes a sample email message of the mass mailer, the mass mailer comprising a second computer system;
• in response to receiving the request, the computer system distributing the sample email message and a key to be associated with the certified mass mailing to a plurality of other computer systems;
• and
• wherein each of the plurality of other computer systems is configured to identify a bulk email message as being part of the certified mass mailing by:
• comparing the bulk email message and the sample email message to determine whether a match is found;
• in response to finding the match, determining whether the bulk email message includes the key associated with the certified mass mailing;
• and
• identifying the bulk email message as being part of the certified mass mailing in response to the bulk email message including the key associated with the certified mass mailing.

A computer mail system comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory storing program instructions executable to:
• receive a request from a mass mailer to perform a certified mass mailing, wherein the request includes a sample email message of the mass mailer, the mass mailer comprising a computer system;
• in response to receiving the request, generate a key to be associated with the certified mass mailing and send the key to the mass mailer;
• and
• distribute the sample email message and the key to a plurality of mail servers, wherein each mail server is configured to:
• compare a bulk email message with the sample email message;
• in response to finding that the bulk email message and the sample email message match, determine whether the bulk email message includes the key associated with the certified mass mailing;
• and
• identify the bulk email message as being part of the certified mass mailing in response to the bulk email message including the key associated with the certified mass mailing.

A computer readable memory medium storing program instructions executable on a mail processing computer system to:

• create bulk filters for groups of a plurality of received email messages without human interaction;
• receive a request from a mass mailer to perform a certified mass mailing, wherein the request includes a sample email message of the mass mailer, the mass mailer comprising a computer system;
• in response to receiving the request, generate a key to be associated with the certified mass mailing and send the key to the mass mailer;
• distribute the created bulk filters, the sample email message, and the generated key to a plurality of mail servers;
• wherein the bulk filters are usable by a given one of the plurality of mail servers to determine whether messages received at the given mail server are bulk email messages;
• and
• wherein the given mail server is configured to identify a bulk email message as being part of the certified mass mailing by:
• comparing the bulk email message with one or more samples of certified mass mailings to determine whether a match is found between the bulk email message and the sample email message, wherein the one or more samples include the sample email message;
• in response to finding the match, determining whether the bulk email message includes the key associated with the certified mass mailing;
• and
• identifying the bulk email message as being part of the certified mass mailing in response to the bulk email message including the key associated with the certified mass mailing.

A computer readable memory medium storing program instructions executable on a mail processing computer system to:

• receive a request from a mass mailer to perform a certified mass mailing, wherein the request includes a sample email message of the mass mailer, the mass mailer comprising a computer system;
• in response to receiving the request, generate a key to be associated with the certified mass mailing and send the key to the mass mailer;
• and
• distribute the sample email message and the key to a plurality of mail servers, wherein each mail server is configured to:
• compare a bulk email message with the sample email message;
• in response to finding that the bulk email message and the sample email message match, determine whether the bulk email message includes the key associated with the certified mass mailing;
• and
• identify the bulk email message as being part of the certified mass mailing in response to the bulk email message including the key associated with the certified mass mailing.