Self-cleaning and forwarding feature for electronic mailboxes

Claim 2

In a message communication system having electronic mailboxes, a method of self-cleaning of the electronic mailboxes comprising the steps of: identifying that a message is tagged for expiration, said expiration tag having a data field and a time field, wherein contents of said date field and said time field are variable and settable by a message creator; determining if said message has expired; and acting upon said message if said message has expired; wherein said step of acting includes selectively forwarding said message if said message has expired and said message contains a field enabling selective forwarding to a destination identified by said message.

Claim 3

The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising the step of assigning an expiration indicator to said message.

Claim 4

The method as recited in claim 2 wherein said indicator comprises an action indicator.

Claim 5

The method as recited in claim 3 wherein the step of acting upon said message further comprises acting upon said message with an action corresponding to said action indicator.

Claim 6

The method as recited in claim 3 wherein said action indicator is selectively assigned a value corresponding to suppression of said message from viewing.

Claim 7

The method as recited in claim 3 wherein said action indicator is selectively assigned a value corresponding to automatic deletion of said message.

Claim 8

The method as recited in claim 3 wherein said action indicator is selectively assigned a value corresponding to automatic forwarding of said message.

Claim 9

The method as recited in claim 2 wherein said indicator comprises a temporal reference.

Claim 10

The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said message comprises an e-mail message.

Claim 11

The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said message comprises a voice mail message.

Claim 12

The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said message comprises a video mail message.

Claim 13

The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said message comprises a fax mail message.

Claim 14

The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the step of acting further comprising selectively deleting said message has expired and said message contains a field enabling selective deletion.

Claim 15

The method as recited in claim 1 wherein the step of acting includes selectively forwarding said message if said message has expired and said message contains a field enabling selective forwarding to a destination identified by said message, said destination is variable and settable by the message creator.

Claim 16

In a message communication system having electronic mailboxes, a method of self-cleaning of the electronic mailboxes comprising the steps of: tagging a message for expiration, said expiration tag having a date field and a time field, wherein contents of said date field and said time field are variable and settable by a message creator; sending said message; receiving said message; identifying that said message is tagged for expiration; determining if said message has expired; and acting upon said message if said message has expired; wherein said step of acting includes selectively forwarding said message if said message has expired and said message contains a field enabling selective forwarding to a destination identified by said message.

Claim 17

In a message communication system having electronic mailboxes, a method of self-cleaning of the electronic mailboxes comprising the steps of: tagging a message for expiration, said expiration tag having a date field and a time field, wherein contents of said date field and said time field are variable and settable by a message creator; sending said message; receiving said message; identifying that said message is tagged for expiration; determining if said message has expired; and acting upon said message if said message has expired; wherein said step of acting includes selectively forwarding said message if said message has expired and said message contains a field enabling selective forwarding to a destination identified by said message.

Claim 18

The method as recited in claim 15 further comprising the step of assigning an expiration indicator to said message before sending said message.

Claim 19

The method as recited in claim 16 wherein said indicator comprises an action indicator.

Claim 20

The method as recited in claim 16 wherein said indicator comprises a temporal reference.

Claim 21

The method as recited in claim 17 wherein the step of acting upon said message further comprises acting upon said message with an action corresponding to said action indicator.

Claim 22

The method as recited in claim 17 wherein said action indicator is selectively assigned a value corresponding to suppression of said message from viewing.

Claim 23

The method as recited in claim 17 wherein said action indicator is selectively assigned a value corresponding to automatic deletion of said message.

Claim 24

The method as recited in claim 17 wherein said action indicator is selectively assigned a value corresponding to automatic forwarding of said message.

Claim 25

The method as recited in claim 15 wherein said message comprises an e-mail message.

Claim 26

The method as recited in claim 15 wherein said message comprises a voice mail message.

Claim 27

The method as recited in claim 15 wherein said message comprises a video mail message.

Claim 28

The method as recited in claim 15 wherein said message comprises a fax mail message.

Claim 29

The method recited in claim 15 wherein the step of sending said message further comprises establishing communications over a digital packet network.

Claim 30

The method as recited in claim 15 wherein the step of acting further comprising selectively deleting said message if said message has expired and said message contains a field enabling selective deletion.

Claim 31

The method as recited in claim 15 wherein the step of acting includes selectively forwarding said message if said message has expired and said message contains a field enabling selective forwarding to a destination identified by said message, said destination is variable and settable by the message creator.